...By definiton, eugenics is "the science of improving a human population by controlled breeding to increase the occurrence of desirable heritable characteristics." Miriam Webster dictionary. Eugenics came to exist back in Nazi Germany and was majorly developed by one Francis Galton. The idea was to create a "superior race" known as the Aryan race. The Aryan race had very set specifications, blonde hair, blue eyes and fair skin. During that time, eugenics was mainly achived by selective breeding, meaning that individuals would reproduce with other individuals who fufilled the Aryan requirements. Today, in the 21st century, eugenics is more scientific. In 2003, scientists finished mapping out the human genome- a blueprint for the human race. The practice was first introduced to the USA in 2009 at a fertility clinic in Los Angeles, California. The clinic tried to offer hair and eye colour choices to prospective parents. This attempt caused a lot of public back lash. The process takes place by collecting eggs from the mother which are then fertilized in vitro with the father's sperm. After a successful fertilization, many genetic tests, called pre-implantion genetic diagnosis or PGD, are run to determine if the embryo has any defects such as down syndrome, heart issues, spina bifada, deafness and blindness. If the embryos pass this stage, they go into more indepth and specific tests. The parents set out a list of desirable and undesirable characteristics such as hair colour, eye colour...
Words: 1036 - Pages: 5
...Hassan 1 Hussein Hassan Mr. Horn AP Seminar February 2 2015 The Perfect Human: The Flaws in Modern Eugenics With global technologies rapidly advancing, specifically those based in the field of genetics, one might wonder where humanity is headed in terms of their offspring. The answer? Modern eugenics. Francis Galton's eugenics, centered around forced sterilization and selective breeding to eliminate undesirable traits and foster the spread of more advantageous ones (Galton), is dead. However, the idea of focusing on one’s inherited genes to eliminate passed down diseases is alive and well, albeit in a more “modern” fashion. Is modern eugenics the right way of the future for humanity? To what extent should modern eugenics be viable? Before ambitious genetic projects had begun, such as the Human Genome Project which mapped out the entirety of the human genome (Genome.gov), the only way to tamper with an individual’s genes was through their parents. Gregor Mendel earned the moniker “The Father of Genetics” because of his experiments involving the breeding of plants in the mid 19th century (Biography.com). However, modern eugenics focuses on the genes of child more than the parents through abortions and the genetic altering of the embryo to achieve the desired results. This can be achieved through a process called genetic screening, which observes an embryo’s chromosomes for any lapses or breaks (Galloway a). Embryo’s that show signs of a genetic disorders...
Words: 1544 - Pages: 7
...PRO Designer Babies Designer babies are the concept that involves the isolation of human embryos from a willing human donor. The individuals involved in the process are allowed to choose the traits and the genes that they desire to be present in the embryo and the eventual baby. The idea is technically called the liberal eugenics. Genetic engineering was incorporated in certain species of plants to modify crop yields and improve resistance to certain crop diseases. The scientists inserted a given gene into plasmid bacteria to ensure that the plant cell assumed the new DNA. The technology has allowed many plant species to thrive in harsh conditions, including cold, hot, and effectively resist pests. There are different edible foods, which have been designed through the technology. The last century has recorded discoveries that have involved immense benefits on human lives. The findings involve the use of genes, which refer to the reason behind the different characteristics and features among different humans. However, the new technology involves knowledge, which facilitates an alteration of the human characteristics. Humans have benefited from the technology of designer babies by elimination of the harmful genes as experienced in 2001 in Los Angeles. Contrarily, religion nd the society continue to question the social and moral well-being of creating a child with the traits that the parents desire. The opponents of the technology argue that genetic technology is uncertain and...
Words: 2834 - Pages: 12
...Couples Wishing to Undergo IVF Treatment Should Be Awarded the Legal Right to Choose the Sex of Their Child: Abstract: Sex selection, also known as gender selection, has attracted great interest and controversy over the years. Gender selection has been associated with a number of ethical, moral, social and legal issues. Sex selection may be performed for medical reasons to avoid sex-linked diseases or for parental preference. The topics I will be covering include eugenics, beneficence, utilitarianism and pre-genetic screening in regards to sex linked diseases. Eugenics can be defined as the study or belief in the possibility of improving the qualities of the human species. In the context of IVF, treatment positive eugenics encourages reproduction by implantation of healthy embryos with inheritable desirable traits and negative eugenics seeks to identify and dispose of embryos found to carry undesirable inheritable traits. Introduction: Utilitarianism in the context of IVF sex selection and genetic screening is defined by the principle of utility, which seeks to judge moral rules, actions and behaviors based on their consequences. Where an action produces the best possible outcome, that being the greatest good for the greatest number it is seen as ethical and moral. Therefore, the testing, screening and disposal of genetically impaired embryos and implantation of only healthy and preferred embryos is justifiable because the outcome...
Words: 2080 - Pages: 9
...Afraid of Designer Babies? The Ethics of Genetic Screening” An Australian family with a son diagnosed with a rare disease called “Hyper IGM” which essentially is a congenital condition in which a person is born with a vital piece of his/her immune system missing requiring that they receive constant blood transfusions. In this case, the couple goes through a PGD procedure making another child with no disease to cure the oldest child. This procedure of PGD to identify a unimpaired embryo Summary Leanne and Stephen, the Australian couple are in desperate search for a cure to treat their son, BJ’ fatal disease in which doctors determined that the medical name of BJ’s disease is called “Hyper IGM” which is a rare disease, actually, so rare that 2 out of every million children born are diagnosed with this condition. Using PGD (Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis), doctors who specialize in assisted reproduction helped Leanne and Stephen in the journey to find a solution to their child’s issue. The plan would be to essentially create a “extra-parts baby” by testing for a disease-free and HLA matching embryo. If successful, this would procedure would use the blood tissue from the newborn to cure BJ. Of course, once this case hit the public ethical debates arise. One very predominant argument was whether by allowing this couple to proceed with this procedure for therapy, this could potentially open doors to allowing the average everyday couple to create a “Designer Baby.” However...
Words: 958 - Pages: 4
...right to choose the sex of their child. I’m Melinda and along with Angelique and Melissa we will be presenting the affirmative argument and the negative argument will be presented by Kristen, Judy and Deb. Sex selection, also known as gender selection, has attracted great interest and controversy over the years. Gender selection has been associated with a number of ethical, moral, social and legal issues. Sex selection may be performed for medical reasons to avoid sex-linked diseases or for parental preference. The topics I will be covering include eugenics, beneficence, utilitarianism and pre-genetic screening in regards to sex linked diseases. Eugenics can be defined as the study or belief in the possibility of improving the qualities of the human species. In the context of IVF treatment positive eugenics encourages reproduction by implantation of healthy embryos with inheritable desirable traits and negative eugenics seeks to identify and dispose of embryos found to carry undesirable inheritable traits. Utilitarianism in the context of IVF sex selection and genetic screening is defined by the principle of utility which seeks to judge moral rules, actions and behaviours on the basis of their consequences. Where an action produces the best possible outcome; that being the greatest good for the greatest number it is seen as ethical and moral. Therefore the testing, screening and disposal of genetically impaired embryos and implantation of only healthy and preferred embryos...
Words: 5084 - Pages: 21
... these genetic-modified mice learned things significantly faster from the environment and retained knowledge longer than other mice (Saenz, 2009). More importantly, some experts claim that similar technologies are within reach of creating designer babies in decades (Tokar, 2001). The term of “Designer Baby” is defined as the genetic modification of embryos in order to artificially...
Words: 1490 - Pages: 6
...best possible lives for them. However, something about designing and modifying children feels un-natural. My initial reaction is that these parents are serving their own desires and looking for personal gain. Truthfully, I don’t think anyone wishes their child is born with a disease. I am however fascinated with all the advancements in reproductive technologies. One hand, it provides hope and a great opportunity to those unable to conceive naturally and also reduce the chances of babies being born with serious disease. But on the other hand, there is the sense of parents playing God. I would say any form or bioengineering or cloning violates the principle of autonomy. By parents choosing their child’s genetic makeup in advance, parents deny them the right to an open future. Then there is the associated risk of multiple gestation pregnancy where they are...
Words: 799 - Pages: 4
...Designer Babies: Ethical or Unethical Designer babies are one of the most controversial issues in modern medicine. It can be seen as it being ethical by eliminating diseases and lead to an improved quality of life and longevity but also sees it as being unethical because it could possibly lead to the parent controlling the physical and or psychological features of a child. There are a couple of reasons why creating a designer baby can be beneficial health wise that some people may see it as being ethical but others sees it as unethical because couples are looking into designing their baby for physical traits more than health reason. Technology now a day’s make it possible to detect genetic disorders such as Down syndrome and Turner’s syndrome or many more. If the embryo is positive for a disorder the parents have the option to abort it. Another benefit by using this research it can get rid of all genetically transferred diseases leading to a future healthier population. Choosing donor physical and psychological traits essentially means that hopeful parents can buy a baby of their choice, picking everything from hair and eye color to skin color, height, and race. The so-called designer babies that come from such deliberate selection could in the future be created in a laboratory, as scientists understand enough about the human genetic code to possibly alter embryonic DNA for parents who want their babies to look and possibly act a certain way. The ethics of designer babies...
Words: 1068 - Pages: 5
...Although many countries do not allow this like New Zealand, America and many others do. This opens up the idea of “designer babies”, children who would have the most desirable genetics. They would be smart, sporty and attractive, all because PGD got out of hand. As T S Petersen said in his column in the Journal of Medical ethics, “as researchers refine pre-implantation diagnosis techniques for genetic diseases, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to contain the uses of such research (there is already considerable pressure to permit preimplantation diagnosis for sex selection for “elective” purposes). There will likely be increasing pressure, whether subtle or overt, on people to take advantage of these techniques and not to bring even a mildly disabled child into the world, particularly if the disabilities will entail higher medical costs paid by third party insurers.” Through this statement we can see that it is highly possible for people to take advantage of PGDs technology, this could lead to discrimination of people with disabilities and this idea of designer babies coming into action. If people can pick a baby's sex, where can we draw the line? Hair colour, eye colour? Some argue that it is a great advancement in science, but is going against nature the right thing to do, especially just because...
Words: 2144 - Pages: 9
...GENETIC ENGINEERING 1 Genetic engineering and the possibility of designer babies Cynthrea Bright International Management Dr. Matthew Ademola November 27, 2012 Introduction Shannon Brownlee is the acting director of the New America Health Policy Program and is also a nationally known writer and essayist. In March of 2002 she wrote an article for the Washington Monthly called Designer Babies. Brownlee explains the birth of cytoplasmic transfer in the in vitro fertilization (IVF) process and the technical advances from this process that is making designer babies possible. Summary How is the creation of designer babies even possible? Well the process began with the creation of IVF and then in the 1990s embryologist Jacques Cohen created the process called cytoplasmic transfer. This process gave women who did not have success with normal IVF hope by placing cytoplasm from a fertile egg into the infertile women’s eggs. The first baby born from this process was in 1997 and at first was deemed a huge success and advancement in technology. Then 4 years later Cohen admitted to adding mitochondrial DNA to the embryo what in essence gave the child three parents, the mother, father and the mitochondrial DNA donor. This was the first form of human genetic modification and the long term ramifications are still unknown. One of the children born with the mitochondrial DNA has developed a mild form of autism but it has not been determined if it is because of the...
Words: 1257 - Pages: 6
...Recent research on editing DNA in human chromosomes does touch on some ethical dilemmas, such as eugenics. Many people believe eugenics is immoral. It crosses religious lines as well, as many believe that it is up a higher power to decide who a person is and what traits they have. However, some are in support of genome editing because it could lead to cures for diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. Genome editing therefore generates many arguments in society, some for, and some against. In my opinion, the potential benefits of this research do outweigh the risks. In today’s society, people of all generations suffer from genetic conditions which end up holding them back. Alzheimer’s disease is very common in the aging generations, especially as humans begin to live longer. Because life spans are increasing, this means that Alzheimer’s and other chronic conditions that typically appear in old age will continue to plague society unless a cure is found. Genome editing could also produce a cure for autism, but this is another ethical dilemma in itself. While genome editing does bring forth the potential for cures to diseases which negatively affect a large portion of society, it also creates the argument of whether or not some diseases should be cured. However, in the case of chronic diseases which place harm on a person’s health and threaten their life, a cure should be given, and if genome editing could lead to that cure, then it would prove to benefit society....
Words: 590 - Pages: 3
...The research done by Sullivan made many real-life points on the moral counsel of designer babies and situations in which it made miracles (2007). This research was done by using case studies and showed how it affected the lives of families who were interested in genetic engineering. Studies have been done to analyze how the procedure works and if it is the most effective. The ethical side of designer babies has also been heavily researched. This is where the analysis...
Words: 1938 - Pages: 8
...On July 25, 1978, Louise Brown was the first baby ever to not be produced inside the womb naturally (Baird 12). She was referred to as the “test tube baby” (Baird 12). Today this process is called in vitro fertilization or IVF. This process is “often the choice for tens of thousands of infertile couples” (Baird 12). IVF is quite expensive and not always covered by insurance. It can take quite a few failed pregnancies before a successful pregnancy occurs through IVF. Designer babies are taking IVF a step future, and they are designed to be what the parents want it to be. They can pick the gender and appearance of the baby before it’s even conceived. They can also make sure the baby is in perfect health before the process begins. If parents are...
Words: 1590 - Pages: 7
...have been experimenting with cells in petri dishes, trying to clone cells and mutate them. Scientists have even figured out how to change human DNA before it's even born. Doing so allows them to change physical features, abilities, and prevent certain diseases such as alzheimer's. I imagine that genetic engineering is very helpful and could potentially further our society. However, it is illegal to change or mutate DNA in a child in the US. Specifically modifying or editing gene cells or embryos so that a child has certain features are called “designer babies.” Designer babies could be of great help to society. For example, if the next generation is biologically smarter,...
Words: 1720 - Pages: 7
