This is actually a big myth and a misunderstanding. We are VERY far away from being able to create "designer babies". I know this because I'm well-informed on the issue for personal reasons. My wife and I want to do a PID to have children. Until recently, this was still illegal in my country (in most other countries, it has been legal for a while now).
When you actually ask a doctor/researcher who works in reproduction medicine, which I have done during one of our consultations (we are still in the very beginning of the process), he will tell you that "designer babies" aren't something anyone has to be worried about. While scientists do know the human genome, it is far from clear which genes affect which traits. At the moment, we're basically blindly hitting keys on a keyboard - except that this keyboard has roughly 30,000 different keys. Moreover, complex traits, such as intelligence, are often a product of many different genes playing together in a perfect orchestra. At the current time, we are not even remotely close to understand these processes, let alone being able to artificially manipulate or reproduce them in a Petri dish. From what I know about medical technology today, I am pretty sure it's going to take AT LEAST 200 more years until we get close to pulling this thing off.
Many people wrongly imagine PID to be something like creating a designer baby but it's in fact much more basic. And it has the direct purpose of avoiding severe disabilities in the child (it's not creating your dream child). Even if the whole procedure (which is very long, exhausting and expensive) will be successful, all my wife and I can be sure is that our child won't have my particular genetic disability. Apart from that, it is just a normal kid. It might still struggle from a bad asthma or get cancer at age 10. It is in no way invulnerable, nor will it have "an edge" over other children/people.
u We may soon know enough technology to enable us to accomplish this but that does not mean that we will do so wisely. Should we eliminate shortness and have all humans over 6 feet tall? What is being short has an advantage for survival at some point in the future? Should we eliminate color blindness. Maybe that has some advantage for survival.
And what will happen to high school when EVERYONE is beautiful enough to be in the In Crowd? :)
As the developing of science and technical i find it awesome, though not really intelligent.
I see it from an ecological (Ecology-science, not the movement) perspective: we create a disequilibrium if we choose the genes, because we still don't have enough information of how to create a bunch of perfect beings with perfect characteristics to live in our competitive environment without it being chaotic (diversity of genes is something really important in populations and communities, since all beings have for example more capacity to overcome certain illness- and what would happen if everyone had all the "good" genes? No one would die, and that's bad for all natural equilibrium on Earth
It's already becoming a reality but i do disagree with it. We aren't meant to mess with these things. I believe in letting things occur naturally.
www.theguardian.com/.../designer-baby-pgd-would-you-edit-your-unborn-child-genes-more-successful
I think it's GREAT! *in theory* In reality, it would be abused very quickly and very often. Rather than improving and saving the world, it would be used to create super soldiers, master races, and all sorts of naughty things.
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Don't really know. I need to hear more discussion on the topic.
Interesting technology that allows genetic engineering, hopefully it won’t be misused.
In China and India they have been eliminating female babies for decades: the gendercide: www.economist.com/.../21714981-how-one-worlds-great-social-problems-solving-itself-war-baby-girls-winds
https://www.economist.com/node/15606229
In some regions young guys can't find girls to marry.
It's going to take a long time and a lot of horrific human sacrifice before hey can actually do what they claim they'll be able to do.
There's going to be a LOT of designer babies who have massive and debilitating "side effects" from their genetic tampering. Oh, you want your baby to grow up to be tall? Maybe he'll have adult onset schizophrenia too, whoops! You want a baby with a high IQ? maybe he'll also be deathly allergic to soy. (98% of processed food contains soy, good luck with that.)
We don't understand the complex interplay of our genes anywhere near as well as we think we do, and I think a LOT of these so-called designer babies, and the parents, are going to suffer tremendously because they believe the marketing hype.
If it can be safely and accurately done, why not? You're already doing this somewhat when you pick your mate--you're selecting half of your child's genetic makeup.
So if genetic editing can give your offspring good eyes, lowered risk of cancer or heart disease, good hearing, etc... why the hell would you not?
"Sorry son, we could have given you great eyesight, athletic ability, and a strong immune system, but we decided not to. Have fun getting contacts and trying to avoid athletic injuries."
Things like height can only be predicted via genes. There's too many other variables to make them "designer". The mother's womb plays a HUGE role, so unless she's going to adhere to strict diet and activity schedule, nothing is certain. Even dieting has a huge effect on outcome. Poor diets kill growth spurts. Skin pigmentation is also very temperamental. Eye color only works for blue and not blue. Blue is recessive, so it can be controlled by using only blue genes. Most genes, however, only provide predictors. People with the liver cancer gene sometimes do not develop liver cancer.
Already happening, father's can seek egg donors and mother's can seek sperm donors. Albeit, not technically genetic engineering, yet.
It's a very real possibility that genes can be manipulated invitro to prevent things like autism or cerebal palsy.
Well you can already choose eye color and stuff, honestly I don't like it, it's like choosing your baby from a catalogue.. just feels wrong
But I must also say the only thing I find good is that you could, if wanted, choose to remove genetic illnesses like down syndrome
"shrugs"
It is what it is.
I guess I don't think about it much because people are going to be people. We still have all kinds of issues with race, gender, sex, etc. I am sure we will simply project our issues into genetics field.
Omg what a can of worms i dont want to over think it bc scary and sad but yes remove illness from unbornbaby but no modifications. Messed up man. Ahhh blue skies pretty butter flies !!!
I would edit my baby's terminal illnesses, any type of disabilities and increase the immunity but that is the limit... we need to evolve into someone better and not degenerate, for that we need to have some limitations that we will break through
If everyone is perfect, then the few imperfect ones will always find a way to become superior
It's already happening somewhat... it'll happen, no question about it...
I'm okay with it as long as the primary goal is that they'll be healthy and well taken care of.
That's simple: rich people will get perfect babies, while the pleb will get normal babies.
Which will basically make 2 human species. The one we have now, and a superior species, genetically engineered and improved.
The normal people, and some kind of elite who won't just want to live with inferior people.
I think it's sort of immoral. So you would like your kid more if they had X colored eyes or an X type of nose? While there are so many children needing to be adopted and wait their entire childhoods, fruitlessly searching, for parental figures?
I say genetic editing is our next step in evolution if an ai wanted to improve it would as for nature as well we would be opening our bodies to evolve in our life time instead of thousands of years (i want a baby gurl with invisibility)(a baby boy with super human reading skills)
I don't think that's good, imagine everyone want their child to be lawyer ot doctor. Who will construct car and all?
100% Awesome!!! Sign me up.
China is already doing Human testing, they have had success engineering babies immune to HIV.
It's either Engineering, Eugenics, or endless centuries of disease and such.
It's like communism, sounds great on paper, but not good in practice. Would work if everyone was altruistic, but that is not the case
I don't like such an idea, it would set off a human arms race. I am not technophobic, quite the contrary, I am longing for the day when robots start doing all the work for us, but I believe humanity's fundamental nature must remain unchanged.
If we can make our future children have healthier lives that way, I'm all for it.
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