Possibilities of Gene Therapy and Related Technologies
Read the following articles regarding the issue of "designer babies." Complete your debate template and report in preparation for the class discussion. *You must comment on this post. Please keep your comments respectful and choose your words carefully.
Designer Babies: Ethical? Inevitable? http://www.livescience.com/culture/090111-designer-babies.html
Human Genome Project Website http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/elsi.shtml
Are “Designer Babies” on the Horizon? (Science Progress Blog) The media is abuzz with news of researchers at Cornell University successfully creating the first genetically engineered human embryo. The embryo was destroyed after five days, but critics argue that this is a first step towards “designer babies,” and that the scientists overstepped by making a decision on a controversial subject without consulting the public or opening the issue up for an informed discussion. In order to properly weigh the ethical issues, one relevant piece of information we must consider is the goal of the experiment and its projected benefits. The potential rewards of this work are immense, but we should not scoff at the possibility that this kind of research could ultimately lead to the technology for creating babies with preselected mental or physical traits. The scientists argue that the embryo they used was not viable—it had three sets of chromosomes rather than the normal two—and therefore could not have developed into a baby anyway. They also claim that since the research, focused on stem cells, was privately funded and passed their internal review board, they violated no federal regulations. The suggestion was even made that this did not constitute a huge technological advance because the technique is already commonly used for gene therapy. So was there anything ethically irresponsible about their experiment? And what can we conclude about this type of research in general? The scientists claim that their goal was to find out if genetic changes made to embryos can be passed on to daughter cells. Genetic modifications in an embryo are thought to be inheritable, whereas current gene therapy—genetic modification performed on people for disease treatment purposes—cannot be passed on to future generations. The potential benefits of heritable genetic modification are huge—for instance, individuals could potentially rid their offspring of a gene that would predispose them to breast cancer—but so are its potential abuses. We cannot assume without discussion that preselecting our offspring’s genetic makeup is not an undesirable outcome. Scientists constantly emphasize that we are still a long way away from children with preselected traits. But declining to regulate research that could lead us to a point where such choices are possible is troubling precisely because we cannot expect individual scientists to censor themselves based on a concern for societal consequences. This is arguably not their job. Remember division of labor and how it increases efficiency? Scientists have a mission to explore and pursue the most promising avenues of research within the bounds of government regulations. Policy makers and legislators have a mission to figure out where the lines ought to be drawn. Whether we like the idea of “designer babies” or not, their possibility would entail quite serious public and societal consequences. Decisions about the issue have to be made not simply at the level of individual scientists and research labs, but at the public, societal level, particularly given the extent of moral disagreements on the matter. As members of a recent AAAS panel on stem cell research have pointed out, the mere existence of moral controversy is not in itself sufficient to determine the ethical standing of an experiment or research direction. However, the existence of moral controversy mandates a public ethical review and a set of regulations consistent both with expert opinions and with social values. Slippery slope worries can be compelling in some cases, but not everything is a slippery slope. The mere fact that a particular type of research could lead to undesirable applications is not a good reason to ban the research if it also has sufficiently important good consequences. Instead, it is a good reason to ban the undesirable applications. The best way to avoid slippery slopes to bad outcomes is to have an informed, democratic discussion that takes into account both expert opinions and social values. We need regulations because scientists and the general public need clarity about what they can and cannot do, a convincing rationale for permissions and restrictions, and a voice in arriving at decisions with such important ramifications. Sirine Shebaya, Ph.D. is a Greenwall Fellow in Bioethics and Health Policy at the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics. Posted by Sirine Shebaya May 15, 2008
My immediate reaction to the information in these articles (combined with prior knowledge) was that “designer babies” could have both positive and negative consequences. I feel that although this research can be very useful, the term itself seems mainly negative. To me, it seems ridiculous not to use this new technology to help create a healthier generation with less diseases, but I do understand why some people don’t feel like it’s morally okay to alter genetics (based off of religion and personal beliefs). I definitely agree that even though it would be interesting to be able to choose your baby’s characteristics, it could cause major problems with society for many reasons.
ReplyDeleteI think I’m going for the "Designer Babies". I think it may just be a good idea because you can make the life of your child easier by just doing something as simple as taking away a trait or disease or maybe even adding a trait. For the most part I think it become a big thing to do in our generation because who wouldn’t want to be able to pick what their child would look like or act like or even be good at. This is going to be a tough decision choosing sides but we will see.
ReplyDeleteBefore reading anything about “designer babies” I was pretty sure of my view on the subject but after reading the articles provided, as well as a few other articles that I found, I’m not so sure anymore. There are some positives involved with this type of process but, as usual with technology, there are some negatives, too. I feel like the technology is inevitable because although we haven’t gotten to the point of choosing specific traits, there will be a time when that technology becomes available to us as well. This technology is something that could be used to benefit future generations but I am also seeing how it could inadvertently have a negative effect on society.
ReplyDeleteDesigner Babies are something that can be good and bad in many ways. I have previous knowledge on designer babies but not in this great of detail; though, my knowledge of this technology has grown on this topic by reading this. Designer babies are just like ordinary babies, but with one catch. You can choose what traits your baby will have. You could use this new technology to protect your baby from life threatening diseases, or you could do it for societal reasons. By this I mean that you can determine what your baby’s features are. Based on morals, beliefs and religion, you can determine for yourself if this is ethical or not. It would be interesting to see this progress at work, but it will be a problem for many reasons as well.
ReplyDeleteIn the process of finding research on “designer babies” I found very interesting facts on why it really was made in the first place. According to resources PGD (preimplantation genetic diagnosis) was first used to determine the sex of the embryos to minimize likelihood of transmitting fatal sex-linked genes to the offspring. In reading that it seems they came up with the idea for this technology based on this fact. This procedure began to grow. Now it can diagnose 170 different conditions and also is used to minimize the miscarriage rate. With this information I would think it was a good and reasonable procedure, but it is also, in other cases, used to change the appearance and different characteristics of the baby(to essentially mutate the embryo). So this topic has got me astray on if I really think it’s a good idea to have this technology available for people.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to designer babies I feel that it could be one of the greatest advancements in science. I say this because this could result in a virtually disease free future. Though I think designer babies are a good thing I feel that this procedure should only be used for getting rid of diseases. By just doing this procedure to get your child to look good or make them do well in sports is kind of abusing this power. On the other hand though I feel that if you have the money to do it and it’s not going to hurt the baby then do it but ultimately I think that this should only be used to get rid of diseases and other conditions.
ReplyDeleteI think this topic of ''Designer Babies'' has alot of pro's and only a few con's but for the pros most of them in my opinoin are negative. With some cases it is a good thing to stop a deadly disease from passing down to future generations but others just do it so they can have the perfect child. Morals on this touchy subject all depend on your stand point, people don't agree with chosing the traits like a couple might want their child to have blue eyes and brown curly hair insted of green eyes and blonde hair but they have a 50 % chance of each. Depending on what it's used for I beleive this procedure is good but should have limitations on how and who can use it.
ReplyDeleteThis research appears fruitful. To me, the idea of a disease-free tomorrow is incredible. The ability to shape babies' lives and freeing then of major illnesses is great but there are two sides to the coin. This choice to bulid your own baby is largely ethical. There is a possility of discrimination based on whether or not you are a designer baby. The last thing this world needs is another reason to discriminate against others. This project is bound to cost money and some parents may not be able to afford to construct an embryo as they so want. As of right now I am against the idea of designer babies.
ReplyDeleteWhen dealing with designer babies there are pros and cons to this issue. Personally to me the pros out way the cons. There are a lot of families out there that have now a chance to save there child’s life or make it easier. When reading the articles and thinking about these parent knowing they were going to give their child a 5o% chance of a disease really made me think that if they were to use this technology it would really help their family situation out. Although using this new technology to help enhance your child’s looks or physical abilities are a little too much in my opinion. There is also an issue of what if the world was disease free then there would be a chance of severe overpopulation.
ReplyDeleteWhen dealing with designer babies there are pros and cons to this issue. Personally to me the pros out way the cons. There are a lot of families out there that have now a chance to save there child’s life or make it easier. When reading the articles and thinking about these parent knowing they were going to give their child a 5o% chance of a disease really made me think that if they were to use this technology it would really help their family situation out. Although using this new technology to help enhance your child’s looks or physical abilities are a little too much in my opinion. There is also an issue of what if the world was disease free then there would be a chance of severe overpopulation.
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My initial thought on "Designer Babies" was just people pick the traits and apperances that their baby will have; And I thought "Well, that's kinda messed up, I mean you shouldn't mess with genetics for such petty things like that." And then when I looked into it I found out actually that the majority of "Designer Babies" will be genetically altered to prevent disease and stuff along that line. So I think it's actually a good idea to invest in the research of that- it's disease prevention and just think about how much we'd learn about diseases and genetics. However, if it turns into people "shopping" for traits they wanted their baby to have then I would have a problem with that- I don't know why I'm really against that, maybe because it's unnatural, but I would just have a bad feeling about it. I'm remaining as open minded as I can though about the concept of "Designer Babies".
ReplyDeleteIn my immediate reaction to this arguement I feel that the University was in the guidelines of what they did in the expirement. If the embryo that they had destroyed was in fact inviable since it had three sets of Chromosomes then there should be no controvesy on the topic. I think that the testing and "Tweaking" of the human and any other genome has a mainly positive outcome. The main Pros of this new Genome altering technology and techniques would include disease free future, longer lives, stronger, and more intellegent humans and any other organisms. The most obvious but most relevent Cons of this technology would include people's moral and ethical values could be violated, inviable embryos like at Cornell University, and could lead to more defects if something were to mistakenly be changed. I feel that there should be limits on what can be altered and what can't be since it would also help lower the amount of controversy, anger, and protests.
ReplyDeleteBeing able to change a person's genetics is very impressive research, but it might also be dangerous. If designer babies become an option for people, it will give them a lot of power over their child's genetics, like their diseases or eye color. This is a major advancement in science, but I think that if people abuse this power then it could cause problems in the future. If future generations favor certain traits, then this could cause a lack of variety. ALthough the option of changing your baby's genetics could be beneficial, I think that too many people would abuse it.
ReplyDeleteDesigner babies have a negative effect on the human genetic order. From reading just one article I can see that this producer is done to help the child live a health life. As I progress in reading, I soon see that it’s not just used in preventing diseases; nonetheless, to change a child appearance based off of the parent decision. The eye, hair, skin color can be changed and anything else that the parent prefers. Those changes may seem very small at the moment but they will have a big impact in the future. That child may have a child and that child may have a child and so on and on down the list. Once we get to the second generation, you see skin disorders, eye problems, and hair lost and all types of problems. That’s because great-grand dad parents had his gene altered when he was in the womb. Throwing off all balance a family has. Some genes are made so that when matched with other genes that they balance out or have a certain effect. DNA is one of those things in life that should not be played with or altered. DNA has an important job on the way we are varied as individuals (MEOSIS!). We are all not meant to be the same or be perfect. Some things and life will happen for better or for worse.
ReplyDeleteIs it ethical to allow people to create designer babies? That’s the question that comes to my mind when I think of the controversial topic, designer babies. The main reason people are using the technique associated with designer babies are to ensure that their child won’t be born with any gene linked diseases. But if everybody uses this technique hoping that one day the world will be disease free, wouldn’t we quickly become over populated? I don’t think we should even bother with things such as this because what is meant to happen happens and what is meant to be is going to happen regardless of human interference. Therefore designer babies aren’t ethical because of the possible dangers that can harm our society, such as overpopulation, lack of resources and possibly even more technical difficulties with human genetics in the future.
ReplyDeleteDesigner Babies are they ethical? I say yes I personally think what people want to do is there business. I don’t believe people should alter the genetics of a baby just for fun; there should be a serious reason. For example if a baby is going to have a life threatening disease then it wouldn’t be a bad thing to alter the babies genetics to make sure it doesn’t have the disease, by doing this we will eventually rid the world of diseases like cancer by altering genetics. Some people may just want to alter their baby’s genetics for fun although I don’t think that’s wrong I find it to be a waste. So when it comes to designer babies I think it is good and can help us so I am for designer babies
ReplyDeleteBefore reading the information about Designer Babies, I truly believed that the process of being able to pick which traits you wanted and didn’t want for your baby was completely wrong. However, before reading, I only thought they were talking about being able to pick characteristics like hair color, eye color, ect. Once I read the information and found out that they also use this process to prevent disease and disorders, my point of view began to change. This process can be very helpful because it can help prevent diseases and disorders that the parents might pass on to their baby. I have a mixture of feelings toward this topic, for if you can find a way to help prevent your child from having a disease then by all means do it, but if you are just going to do it so your child has a specific hair color then you should not do it, for you should be happy with the characteristics your child receives in the first place. It also is kind of like messing up the way God planned you to look like.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the articles I feel like Designer Babies is beneficial in some way, but also not a good idea. Having a designer baby can prevent your child from getting any disease or illness that is hereditary. No one wants their child to be born with a disease, and this is one option that can stop that from happening. As I continue to read I come to a conclusion that not only do they use it to stop their child from getting a disease, but the parent also uses it to change the appearance of the child. In my opinion that is very unacceptable. Only one person knows how your child will look when he/she comes out, and that’s God. He made us the way he wanted us to be for a reason, and I don’t agree to the fact that people would want to change that. I mean if I was a parent I would totally agree to the fact that I don’t want my child to be born with any type of disease, however I wouldn’t change the appearance of him/her. Well to each his own, if they want to change the appearance of their child BEFORE it's born, then ok. However, that’s something Kalimah would NOT do. That’s how I feel.
ReplyDeleteThe name “Designer Babies” has a negative connotation because when you hear the word “designer” you generally think of Gucci handbags and Prada sunglasses, but when you pair it with the word “baby” it could start to worry some people. After reading the articles provided on Designer Babies I think that changing the genetic structure of an embryo is acceptable, only if it is being used to prevent a child from getting a deadly disease or a fatal cancer. Even if the thought of changing a child’s appearance while it is still an embryo has not been accurately performed does not mean that it will never happen. When it does however there will be people to take advantage of that and use the poor baby as a Barbie doll by changing it to looking the way he/she wants it to look like, that is where I draw the line and say that “Designer Babies” are un-acceptable.
ReplyDeleteBased on the knowledge that the articles have given me, I feel as though designer babies are necessary. Yes there are pros and cons but pros outweighs the cons. Some people want designer babies to have a perfect child but I feel that designer babies should be allowed because some people also don’t want their child to have the sicknesses and diseases that runs in their family. I could see where they are coming from. Who wants their child to suffer from a disease that they have had or seen a relative through? With the new technology I think they should be able to create designer babies to have a healthier future. Even though you should just take what God has given you , if people want to take the extra mile and pay a lot of money to have a designer baby that is their choice .I think that the babies will not have that much of a bad impact on a future. Just because their parents chosse to make them have blue eyes and red hair, that is not affecting anybody or the future.
ReplyDeleteI think that designer babies could be good and bad.I mean wouln't you like to have a chance to choose what your child would look like or mental and physical state?I don't know if I would.But if everyone could choose what there child had such as traits,physical and mental,if scientists found a way to pull it off,we could make the perfect race.Though people shouldn't do it just for fun. If you already know what your child could look like, it takes the fun out of watching the child grow.
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