Designer Babies
Parents want the best for their children, and they will do almost anything for them. They hire tutors and trainers, pay for lessons and classes, and spend time and money investing in the lives of their offspring. Many parents will go to the ends of the earth in order to provide the best life possible for their children and to enable them to live up to their full potential. Today, prospective parents can do much more than provide for their children while they are alive. They can ensure them a healthy life before they are born. Some fertility clinics, like the Fertility Institutes, offer a service called pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, PGD. This service screens a couple’s in-vitro fertilization embryos for life-threatening …show more content…
This technology is germline modification, which allows the DNA of an embryo to be changed for the life of the resultant human being and for the lives of his offspring. Germline modification is not currently in practice, but this technology will be possible in the future (“Germline Gene Transfer). Genetically modified embryos have ethical, social, and scientific implications.
The reproductive technology at the root of germline modification is called In-vitro fertilization, or IVF. IVF is a technology where infertile women or women who are having trouble becoming pregnant can become pregnant by having her eggs fertilized outside her body before being implanted in her. Essentially, it is conception outside of the body. The first step in the process is extracting a woman’s eggs. A woman undergoing in-vitro will take a hormone suppressant followed by an egg supply booster. After that, the woman’s eggs will be extracted from her ovarian follicles to be used in her pregnancy. Concurrently, sperm from her partner or a sperm donor will be collected to fertilize the egg. Next, the eggs are fertilized outside the body, and an embryologist will monitor them and the healthiest will be chosen for transfer into …show more content…
On one hand, inheritable genetic modification, IGM, is extremely promising. It has the promise of curing inheritable genetic diseases for generations as opposed to one person like current gene therapy (Frankel). If IGM was implemented at a universal level, the world could be free of genetic defects. Down syndrome, Huntington’s Disease, and Tay-Sachs could be relics from the past. In addition, germline engineering allows parents to select for the most athletic, most intelligent, most attractive, and healthiest children possible (“CGS: Inheritable Genetic Modification Argument Pro and Con”). Implemented on a large scale, germline engineering could change the world forever and impact every person alive in a positive way. What if IGM produced just one genius that would not have been a genius without the procedure? Some define genius by measure of achievement. Geniuses produce works greater and more life altering than any of their contemporaries. “Unquestioned examples of such works include Newton’s Principia, Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Tolstoy’s War and Peace, Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel frescoes and Beethoven’s ‘Fifth Symphony’” (Simmonton). Each and every one of these works impacted culture, science, or understanding in a world changing way. Denying genetic engineering could be denying canonical works of literature, masterpieces in music,
Parents want the best for their children, and they will do almost anything for them. They hire tutors and trainers, pay for lessons and classes, and spend time and money investing in the lives of their offspring. Many parents will go to the ends of the earth in order to provide the best life possible for their children and to enable them to live up to their full potential. Today, prospective parents can do much more than provide for their children while they are alive. They can ensure them a healthy life before they are born. Some fertility clinics, like the Fertility Institutes, offer a service called pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, PGD. This service screens a couple’s in-vitro fertilization embryos for life-threatening …show more content…
This technology is germline modification, which allows the DNA of an embryo to be changed for the life of the resultant human being and for the lives of his offspring. Germline modification is not currently in practice, but this technology will be possible in the future (“Germline Gene Transfer). Genetically modified embryos have ethical, social, and scientific implications.
The reproductive technology at the root of germline modification is called In-vitro fertilization, or IVF. IVF is a technology where infertile women or women who are having trouble becoming pregnant can become pregnant by having her eggs fertilized outside her body before being implanted in her. Essentially, it is conception outside of the body. The first step in the process is extracting a woman’s eggs. A woman undergoing in-vitro will take a hormone suppressant followed by an egg supply booster. After that, the woman’s eggs will be extracted from her ovarian follicles to be used in her pregnancy. Concurrently, sperm from her partner or a sperm donor will be collected to fertilize the egg. Next, the eggs are fertilized outside the body, and an embryologist will monitor them and the healthiest will be chosen for transfer into …show more content…
On one hand, inheritable genetic modification, IGM, is extremely promising. It has the promise of curing inheritable genetic diseases for generations as opposed to one person like current gene therapy (Frankel). If IGM was implemented at a universal level, the world could be free of genetic defects. Down syndrome, Huntington’s Disease, and Tay-Sachs could be relics from the past. In addition, germline engineering allows parents to select for the most athletic, most intelligent, most attractive, and healthiest children possible (“CGS: Inheritable Genetic Modification Argument Pro and Con”). Implemented on a large scale, germline engineering could change the world forever and impact every person alive in a positive way. What if IGM produced just one genius that would not have been a genius without the procedure? Some define genius by measure of achievement. Geniuses produce works greater and more life altering than any of their contemporaries. “Unquestioned examples of such works include Newton’s Principia, Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Tolstoy’s War and Peace, Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel frescoes and Beethoven’s ‘Fifth Symphony’” (Simmonton). Each and every one of these works impacted culture, science, or understanding in a world changing way. Denying genetic engineering could be denying canonical works of literature, masterpieces in music,