Would you design your baby if you had a way to alter the dna of the child?
Would you design your baby if you had a way to alter the dna of the child?
Scientists are getting closer and closer to building the perfect baby for each couple. Do you think it is safe to make these alterations and would you do it?No. Then we would probably need other scientists to decide what "perfect" must be for each couple.
Compared to genetic testing and agonizing over whether I'd abort if the results were bad (due to something I carried), yes, I'd have altered the DNA to remove the negative recessive traits so that this moral dilemma did not occur (wondering whether to terminate or go forward).
I would not get into enhancements trying to make a genius or super-athlete. That has too many ethical problems from unused potential wasted because people assume genetics are everything to creating a caste system where ability/merit and money almost completely align, locking everyone else out. The Gattaca movie is probably realistic, where those in the genetic upper class lock out those who aren't when it comes to jobs. We already see shades of this today, where the upper middle class dominates elite schools, and the poor first generation white college student is declined so the child of black doctors can get in to make up for past discrimination and lower class kids can't meet the criteria for top schools because they don't have the time or money to do all the extracurriculars considered the definition of a well rounded person.No. They've made sci-fi movies about this sort of thing and in the long run it never turns out very well.
I would first get myself and my "mate" genetically tested to see what risks our child would face. Then I would only want to prevent genetically inherited diseases or disorders that could bring down the quality of my child's life or worse, end it. If you look up inheritable diseases and disorders like Tay Sach's, Edward's syndrome, cystic fibrosis, schizophrenia, or agoraphobia, for example (there are tons of others), you can understand why a couple that could pass those along would want to ensure that their baby cannot get them. It's just an act of love and mercy.
But I personally don't believe genetic modification should be used to change physical or personality traits. Biologically, a child is a couple's offspring because they got their unique combination of genes from them. If a third party also creates a particular gene combination, then I feel that the child has, in essence, a third parent (science, I suppose, or whoever was responsible for altering the genes). That just rubs me the wrong way. I don't know why though, so I can't say I'm right in feeling that way. It's just how I feel, perhaps instinctively or morally. I wouldn't want it unless it could save my child.
