Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Designer Babies

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There's this idea of the "perfect human" that consists of the parents choosing and designing there baby the way they would want them to look, and the qualities they would want them to have.  the term Designer Baby was introduced by journalists in 2004, which is defined as being, "an infant created by genetic engineering combined with in vitro fertilization in order to ensure the absence or presence of a particular gene or characteristic."

This process allows doctors to screen embryos for genetic disorders in which healthy embryos are picked. This could, in future, lead to cosmetic changes. The advanced technique used is called InVitro Fertilization which fertilizes the sperm in test tubes outside of the mother’s bodies. This reduces the chances of the child being born with a genetic disorder. There is only two legal ways to carry out the advanced reproductive technologies on humans. One is choosing the type of sperm that will fertilize an egg and the second screens embryos for a genetic disease. This is called Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD).

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This process of fertilization is used to develop the "perfect child." Many parents use this genetic process to change and create their child. I believe this is wrong when the child's appearance, athletic ability and qualities are changed to create this unrealistic person. There wouldn't be any diversity in our culture everyone would look the same and would have this ideal perfect image. It is also wrong if the parents create a child to save another child. It is unfair for the designer baby made to save its sibling. It brings up the question is it for love or for materialistic reasons.  However I believe it is different if the parents change the genes of the child because of health issues that the doctor may have discovered. I understand that a parent would want only the best for their child and if their life was in jeopardy they would do anything they could to save them.


In conclusion this topic is very controversial and depends completely on the situation and the person. I personally do not agree with designing a baby under any circumstances because I believe it goes against creation and morals.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,989987,00.html
http://www.bionetonline.org/english/content/db_cont1.htm
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLKZ7-sHEZWf_BENKZA8vVS2VDIqClvNdZfWHpDIRA0JyVvpN_EjC0_-ET5fr7x4-YVHl9yFqE1uVk7zSTuNBHL4ugvrU2WWzwTuq2xzKS_vtq6_iA47X-Ffkg9VzlCA8vEtgUC5fHW7QX/s1600/baby1.jpg(1)
http://edelen.bengalenglish.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/time_designer_babies.jpg(2)
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/designer+baby?o=102889

blogs commented on:http://raachxo.blogspot.com -Rachael Chafe
http://melissasbioblog.blogspot.com -Melissa Quinn