...Is it Ethical to Produce Designer Babies? What if parents could have the child of their dreams? Now scientists are close to making it possible to where parents can design their own “perfect” child. It means that they will be able to pick out their child’s hair color, personality traits, and even if they want them to be athletic or not. According to, (www.infertility.com), out of 1000 surveyed, 40% of people said they would pick the traits of their child. Only 9% seen something wrong with the idea of designer babies. I am going to tell you about what exactly is a designer baby, the pros, and the cons of having a designer baby.. The positives: Take the case of Cindy and John Whitley. Their first child died at the age of 9 months from a deadly genetic disorder called spinal muscular atrophy. Genetic analysis uncovered that the Whitley’s statistically had a 1 in 4 chance of creating a child with spinal muscular atrophy each time they conceived. Unwilling to risk having another child with the deadly disorder, the Whitley’s used PGD to conceive three children, all healthy. To start off with, designer babies aren’t easy to develop it takes a lot of knowledge. According to research done by scientist Keith Kleiner, “…Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis is used with in vitro fertilization to look at embryos for over 100 diseases before it is in the mother.” After seeing what embryos have diseases they then destroy them. Scientist use in vitro fertilization to fertilize the eggs...
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...Hamoud Bin Al Nasser Street, Block 11 Maidan Hawally, 20011 28/10/2017 Anne Wojcicki 899 W Evelyn Avenue Mountain View, California, 94041 Dear Ms. Anne Wojcicki: I am a fifteen-year-old female named Lara Hatoum. I am a tenth-grade student at the American International School of Kuwait. I strongly believe that the negatives of designer babies outweigh the positives. Designer Babies allow parents to pick the desirable characteristics they want their child to have by genetically modify their child. Children will be genetically modified by first completing in-vitro fertilization. Then the embryo is examined by two scientists which examine the defects of the DNA. Only the wanted and disease free pieces of DNA are kept and the non-desired traits...
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... 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...
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...Saving Babies? The Consequences of Newborn Genetic Testing, by Stefan Timmermans and Mara Buchbinder, they had stated that many states had started to do genetic screening within those 30 years, but not all states had decided to do all conditions for genetic screening. Critics argue that not many states agree that checking all conditions is necessary. Professionals have agreed that, just to be safe, when having genetic testing done, all conditions should be checked. Genetic testing is an effective way to check diseases on unborn babies. When having...
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...normative ethics and applied ethics. This was first done by David Hume the philosopher who argued how we should look at ethical situations. “Meta-ethics looks at the meaning of language used in ethics, and raises questions about truth. Normative ethics tries to find practical moral standards that we can all live our lives by. These are also called ethical theories. Applied ethics is the application of theories about whether something is right or wrong in specific issues.” Distance Learning Centre, Ethics Pack, 2012. In the 1960’s a professor, Joseph Fletcher founded the theory Situation Ethics. In Situation Ethics right and wrong depend on the situation. There are no universal moral rules or rights, each case is unique and deserves a unique solution. “Situation Ethics is all about agape or love. You should always do the most loving thing” Distance Learning Centre, Ethics Pack, 2012. There are four working principles that Fletcher makes before setting out the situational ethics theory. Pragmatism is the course of action must be practical and work. Relativism is when all decisions must be relative to agape and there are no fixed rules. Positivism is that a person freely choses to believe in agape and puts love first. A valued judgement must be made. Personalism is not centred on...
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...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...
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...Within a few short years, some scientists claim, reproductive science could give birth to the age of “designer babies” (Designer Babies: Opposing Viewpoints in Context). Just as surprising are these new developments are occurring “In 2009, the Fertility Institutes in Los Angeles offered to let parents select their children’s hair and eye color” (Designer Babies: Opposing Viewpoints in Context) although these benefits sound appealing, no one really knows what could happen in the effect of these...
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...The Great Danger of Genetic Modification in Human Beings. According to Ronald Greene in ‘Building Baby from the Genes Up’, “National Institute of Health has come up with a program to build machines with the ability to detect genetic letters in human’s genome.” (Greene, 496) The researchers believe that this will lead to being able to see DNA sequences which could later result in a particular disease or illness in a person. According to Ronald Greene in ‘Building Baby from the Genes Up’, “National Institute of Health has come up with a program to build machines with the ability to detect genetic letters in human’s genome. They believe that this will lead to being able to see DNA sequences which could later result in a particular disease or illness in a person.” (Greene, 496) Some believe that this is going to change the face of medicine positively in the United States. Also, they believe genetic...
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...Humans for thousands of years have been searching for ways to put an end to illness and disease. Various methods have been used, from drinking mercury filled solutions to having holes drilled in the head and letting the bad blood out. However in modern medicine, genetic engineering has taken up a controversial role. Scientists and Human Rights groups debate whether or not genetic engineering is morally right for people to undergo. As the technology advances and reality and science fiction collide, engineering and perfecting children has become a reality. With this technology at hand, people wonder if it is time to engineer their own child. Designer babies are babies who have undergone a process so that desirable traits may be expressed in the child. With the advent of more refined genetic engineering techniques, embryos edited using these techniques face a higher rate of presenting the...
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...Voice in the Debate about Genetic Enhancement Technology Unlike a few years ago, when conceiving a baby girl or a baby boy was a matter of chance, today's prospective parents can choose to alter the genetic make-up of their children in order to enhance their offspring's well-being in the future. Recent advances in the field of genetics can now help people to become parents, and even allow them to choosing the sex of their baby. In March 2009, the BBC reported that a couple in California, Kristen and Matt Landon, have used genetic testing techniques to select the sex of their daughter at a fertility clinic in Los Angeles. As researchers learn new ways to manipulate genes, they plan to take things a step further by offering what some are calling "designer babies". The term “designer babies” refers to a baby whose genetic makeup has been artificially selected by genetic engineering combined with in vitro fertilization (the joining of a woman's egg and a man's sperm in a laboratory) to ensure the presence or absence of particular genes or characteristics. Dr. Jeffrey Steinberg, a pioneer in in-vitro fertilization and director of Los Angeles Fertility Institute, said that he “would predict that by next year, we will have determined sex with 100 percent certainty on a baby, and we will have determined eye color with about an 80 percent accuracy rate." The prospect of “designer babies”, like many of the ethical challenges posed by the advancements in genetics, is confronting the world...
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...tumble dry on delicate. I am a nurturer by nature and although I will wait, I can’t wait to be a mother. Imagine my shock and disbelief when I realized not all women can produce children. In Vitro is a process in which an egg is fertilized by sperm outside of the body in a test tube or petri dish. Once the egg is fertilized it is then places inside the womb where a successful pregnancy can occur. Thanks to in vitro or IVF millions of babies are born to parents who have been unsuccessful at conceiving naturally. Professor Robert Edwards is to thank for the invention of IVF. His research and hard work resulted in the first “test tube baby” in July of 1978. In 2010 Professor Edwards was awarded with the noble prize for his efforts and accomplishments. Starting off Edwards was required to seek private donations for funding. Bourn hall outside of Cambridge was built in 1980 and was the first IVF clinic. “When I explained what I wanted to do they thought I was barmy” (Edwards). Since his research, it is estimated that about 4.3 million “test tube” babies have been conceived. Edwards has given hope back to the parents who have accepted childlessness. About 10% of women are deemed infertile. Personally for me this has always been in the back of my mind. One of my biggest dreams is to become a mother and I fear that I might fall into the 10 % category. Even though a successful pregnancy is not guaranteed millions of infertile couples are looking at alternative options...
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...Design thinking can be defined as a process by which businesses empathize with the situation and needs of the consumers so that they are able to produce goods and offer services that meet these needs. Therefore, design thinking is a protocol for solving emergent problems and discovering new ways and opportunities through which a business can improve and better its performance (Martin, 2007 P. 198). My Own Definition of Design Thinking Design thinking is the process of contextualizing business problems within the design framework. In this framework, the business leader envisions the problem at hand in a pictorial form and places all elements of the problem in its place. They then explore means to be used to link the problem with an amicable solution that will favor the needs of the consumers, who are the stakeholders that benefit the business. Application of Design Thinking in a Business Organization The concept of design thinking can be applied in a business context and as a leadership strategy to enable leaders to define the processes of their business in the most effective ways possible. However, the process of design thinking requires the leader to engage in a step-by-step process when applying the underlying...
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...STAGE 2 BIOLOGY ASSESSMENT TYPE 1: Investigations Folio Issues Investigation Human Awareness Essay – Source Analysis Should all babies be DNA fingerprinted at birth? Article to be evaluated: Website: Genetics and Public Issues – ELSI (Ethical, Legal and Social Issues) – http://darwin.nmsu.edu/ Reliability: This source is a reliable one as it was developed by Dr. Clay Dillingham and Dr. Susan Root. They are professionals, educated in the technique and knowledgeable about the subject with years of experience as scientists in the field. Therefore it is expected to have some reliability. Bias: This article presents both the advantages and disadvantages of the topic of storing everyone’s DNA sequences and is not biased in either direction. It gives the scientific facts and procedures of DNA fingerprinting and continues to give the good effects and also the issues it would cause in the public. It explains how DNA fingerprinting would benefit us, referring to the solving of criminal offenses, detection of possible future diseases of the subject, clues about possible behavioral traits, and other medical information. This is the positive side. The article also discusses the negative side and questions the accessibility of the DNA fingerprints and the information they hold. The effects on the public if the information was misused are discussed including the impact on individuals in relation to seeking insurance policies...
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...Technology – Boon or Bane? Posted on August 25, 2011by Sumukh Naik Technology is one of the greatest invention of mankind.It is so powerful that it shapes our thinking and our way of life within no time.It is ever evolving.Technology is a tool invented and sharpened by humans to make their life easier.Those who know the correct application of technology, be it any sphere of activity, have managed to make lives easier for themselves and to some extent also for others. I feel the best technological breakthrough was the invention of computers which basically led to further advancement in technology viz the creation of many softwares and hardware. Technology has gifted mankind with various boons but look closely and you will realise that technology have blessed mankind with two very important aspects – facility of communication and creation of time. Creation of phone, fax, paging services, mobile services, video conferencing etc are few of the facilities that the human mind has been able to conceive with the aid of technology.All have played a very important part in making the world a ‘Global Village’. Technology has ensured that one can easily communicate with anyone on land, in air(aeroplanes) or even when the person is under the calm waves of dark deep-sea (submarines). But the Time Creation aspect of technology has now posed a challenge and threat which very few had ever thought of. Computers – They have evolved rapidly at the rate of knots. A few decades ago, a single...
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...company is experiencing losses and is continuing to under-perform in the denim jean market. •The firm faces the general problem of a dominant firm losing market share when more firms enter the market. Problem Background Successes Competition Solutions Responsibility Conclusion Q&A Background - History •The company was founded by Levi Strauss in 1853 primarily selling wholesale dry goods. The company was founded in San Francisco, California. •A tailor named Jacob Davis thought of an idea to use copper rivets to reinforce the points of strain on pants. •Davis and Strauss purchased the patent of the idea of using copper rivets in clothing on May 20, 1873. Problem Background Successes Competition Solutions Responsibility Conclusion Q&A Background - Company Growth •The innovation of the rivets in the jeans differentiated Levi’s jeans from others because of its increased durability. •Over the years, Levi’s jeans have become more popular, initially due to its durability. Jean products expanded, targeting different consumers. •Levi Strauss & Co. eventually captures most of the denim jean market, becomes the largest manufacturer of jeans, and profits reach $1 billion by 1974. Problem Background Successes Competition Solutions Responsibility Conclusion Q&A Background - Time Line •1853: Levi Strauss begins selling dry goods in San Francisco. •1873: Levi Strauss & Co. patent riveted jeans and begin selling them. •1912: Koveralls, denim playsuit for children, is first...
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