Designer Babies: Should We Really Be Modifying Our Children?

The term, “Designer Babies” to some may be seen as a baby in designer clothes or even the baby of a fashion designer, but the real meaning of this term is used to describe a baby whose genetic make up has been artificially selected by genetic engineering combined with vitro fertilization to ensure that specific characteristics or genes are present or absent. This has been made possible by recent advancements in genetics, leaving people with the questions like, “Should we be able to choose our children’s genes? What effect would genetic enhancement have on our society? What about the safety of the child? Is this pushing our moral and ethical limits? And most importantly, should we really have this power and will it we used right way in the many years to come?

 

A technique used to generate designer babies is beginning with an embryo created by in vitro fertilization or IVF. Genetic engineers modify the embryo’s DNA and move its placement into a womb. Blinded by the technological advances of genetic engineering, we have yet to see or be concerned with the safety of the ones we love, to simply achieve genetic modification.

Many current technologies of genetic modification introduce genes in random points of the genome. We should being keeping in mind that unwanted genes can still be placed in the genetic code of one without knowing, until the symptoms of this are seen later on in the certain person’s life. For example, the NR2B gene, which codes for one type of glutamate reporter and plays the role of brain development, is found in humans and transmitted naturally through normal reproduction, but if inserted in the target genome in the wrong way it can cause the disruption of other genes crucial for survival.

Although there are many hazards and risks of genetic engineering, the technology has proved to be beneficial has through the advancements that have been made in this field a designer baby’s embryo, genetic diseases Cystic fibrosis and Down’s syndrome can be tested for through the biotechnology that is known polymerase chain reaction or PCR. Polymerase chain reaction is a technique in molecular biology to amplify a single or a few copies of DNA across several orders of magnitude, generating thousands to millions of copies or a particular DNA sequence chosen by the scientists.

Even if there has been much advancement in genetic engineering from scientists like Kary Mullis for PCR or Frederick Sanger for his study of the Human Genome Project, to me I believe that humans shouldn’t be given the chance to play the role of God by being able to get rid of or gain characteristics and genes that parents wanted or wanted to get rid of in their life in quest of trying to achieve genetically perfect babies, and side effects in embryos that we can’t see are signs that this shouldn’t even be being attempted.

References:

http://www.actionbioscience.org/biotech/agar.html

http://www.biotecharticles.com/Genetics-Article/Designer-Babies-Method-and-Ethical-Issues-78.html

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/projects/genome/probe/doc/TechPCR.shtml

http://www.nature.com/mp/journal/v7/n10/full/4001152a.html

Blogs I Commented On:
Felix Puguon
http://feliixx.blogspot.com/2011/01/designer-babies.html?showComment=1307027342286#c1919961803359250268
Mark Natal
http://mayhemmark.blogspot.com/2011/01/unit-five-you-are-babys-daddy_12.html?showComment=1307027865562#c2157879753446616823