Can you please make a comment about this.... From an ethics standpoint it is ver
ID: 457671 • Letter: C
Question
Can you please make a comment about this....
From an ethics standpoint it is very difficult to defend the woman’s decision to have a genetically modified baby however it is her right to do so. Based on her circumstances the woman has many legitimate reasons to not take the “normal” biological or adoption routes. Her body is her means of survival and living, without her protecting and monitoring her body she will not be “body ready” for her career demands and she will not be able to afford a family. Nothing in the text states states that she is physically unable to bare children but there is always a risk of her body not being the same after pregnancy, having to have surgeries to “repair” her body which takes time and of course the entire 40 weeks she would take to create the baby inside her womb, also time consuming. Her decision would also raise many questions about her morals and ethics personally, like does she think she’s too good to birth or adopt a child like normal people? Why do people with money use money to fix everything? Do they not know how to handle real life problems attentively? Not to mention at any point of the procedure, there is always a possibility of introducing the lab technician’s DNA by accidental transfer, which I’m sure no one has tested
Creating a baby with specifications through technology is a major risk. On one hand if the woman has genetic disease or illness that runs in her family and she wants to protect the child from that or if she is really tall but doesn’t want a tall child then this option may be preferable. Personally, (not that I would ever choose this option) but hypothetically I would genetically modify a baby genius. However, on the other hand whenever technology is brought into play this can also lead to alternative issues that we are not able to foresee. The baby will eventually have to be told or find out that they were made in a petri dish, with a needle, microscope and possibly 6 different parents. Finding these things out as a teen would be devastating and learning to understand them as an adult would be daunting. If we fast forward to this genetically modified child having a child of its own, we would not know what to expect or how this child will be effected. This would be a melting pot of confusion. Based on my research 72% of people say No while only a mere 28% agree with designer babies per the poll from debate.com.
Limitations or Laundry list? My limitations would turn this paper into a dissertation so I’ll just say the use of the “designer baby” technology should only be used to prevent crippling (mental or physical) disease or disability or fatal diagnosis that can be proven through parental DNA testing. Being short, having green eyes or light colored hair is not life altering and will not suffice.
Explanation / Answer
There are some necessary clarifications before to take an ethical side about "Designer Babies". Starting with the fact that current advance of these techniques is very limited, the researcheres have only reached to edit some specific genes in plants and animals, as mosquitos which transmit malaria. Even there is a chinese team who has announced that they modified genetic qualities in embryos, it is not verified.
In this sense, maybe we are very far to really "design a baby", it supposed that scientists are working on fixing genetic mutation as degenerative diseases, not in designing a superior race of human, but this technology is potentially harmful in this sense. There is not enough knowledge about the intelligence or athleticism genes, but certain diseases are identified in the human genome.
Having said that, there are certain ethical issues about this genome editing technology: