Help Save a Life... or Design a Baby!

Designer baby is a term used to describe the modification of embryos by choosing desirable characteristics for the baby through a process called InVitro Fertilisation. It is the act of inserting an egg and some sperm into a test tube in order to alter its genetic information. Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) is also used in creating a designer baby with the aid of two techniques. The first one is to choose the type of sperm used to fertilise the egg- that way one can determine the sex and genes of the baby. The other method is screening embryos for any genetic disease; in this process, diseases will be analysed and removed. The purpose of removing the gene that contains the disease is to ensure a healthy baby and avoid the inheritance of genetic diseases. The embryo will then be safely implanted back into the mother.

Judging from the two methods mentioned above, I am somewhat in favour of the ethically and socially impacts the process used to create a designer baby causes in the society. From an ethical stand point, I would like to say that I strongly agree with the idea of removing the disease-causing genes. This way, the baby will grow up to be healthy and won’t need to worry about a family history of diseases it will bring upon its descendants. Also, I think that it is a good idea for those parents who would want to save their child, who has inherited a serious disease, by allowing the practice of PGD on their child to another. Although that option is quite possible, it does concern me to imagine anyone who would give birth to a precious baby just to have them donate to their older sibling. I think it’s ethically wrong to play with one’s life just because they have the power to do so. In addition, I find it morally wrong how people will come up with such an idea behind the whole PGD process to create another feature that can be applied to the embryo to change certain characteristics inherited in a child such as the colour of their eyes, skins, hairs, etc..

Are you getting frustrated from reading all of this? Don’t you think it’s immorally wrong to perform such acts in the first place? Sure, we can help save millions of lives; but what about those who find this new technology beneficial? But do you realize how this one technology would unbalance the society; it would be having a new race of ‘super humans’! The babies will grow up to be perfect beings with shocking characteristics that will set a border between those who lack those abilities. The idea of designing a perfect being is wrong because people should treat each other with dignity for who they are despite the ability they lack to become perfect beings.

In the end, this technology to me seems like it can be publically acceptable but at the same time, I would not agree for it to be used to differentiate others because that would destroy the primary purpose of this wonderful technology.

Above:
" Bird 1: What are you carrying?
Bird 2: The same thing you're carrying; a tube from a lab used to design babies."

Above:
"Go home and install this program and play around with itand let us know which baby you would prefer!"

Sources:
http://www.actionbioscience.org/biotech/agar.html
http://www.bionetonline.org/english/content/db_cont1.htm
http://www.prochoiceforum.org.uk/ocrreliss7.php

Picture References:
http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/t/test_tube_babies.asp
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2009/03/02/2009-03-02_custommade_babies_delivered_fertility_cl.html

Blogs I've Commented On:
http://patrick-bioblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/shopping-for-traits.html
http://jayy-tan.blogspot.com/2010/11/its-like-plastic-surgery-for-babies.html