What is a Designer Baby?
A designer baby is a term used for genetically engineered baby, in vitro for specifically selected traits. For example, health disorders that are genetically rescued prior to birth of the child can be fixed to benefit both the parents as well as the future life of the child dramatically. Prior to scientific advancements in genetic vitro fertilization methods, designer babies were simply a science fiction concept. However, it is now evidently here as a real possibility of the future.
Image 1: Illustrates a combination of potential genetic disease cures as well as purely aesthetic modifications that can be done to a ‘designer baby’
Photo Credits: nextBIGfuture
Why Designed Babies?
As mentioned above, the primary purpose of introducing the whole idea of designer babies into the world is the undeniable benefits of avoiding heritable diseases coded by mutations in the DNA. Not only that, designer babies open up possibilities for incredibly complex cures such as stem cell transplant.
Consider the case of Charlie Whitaker, an ex-patient who suffered a debilitating genetic diseases that doctors declared incurable other than to perform stem cell transplant with someone who has an exact tissue match. In order to save Charlie, his parents then resorted to the in vitro fertilization technique with genetic modification which gave birth to Charlie’s younger brother who saved his life by providing a genetic tissue match in his umbilical cord. Without Jamie and genetic engineering, all hope would have been lost for Charlie.
“People would use the term ‘designer’ or ‘harvest baby’ to talk about Jamie (brother), to make it sound like he was born for spare parts, but that is completely wrong. I really like the term saviour sibling because that is what he is.”
– Michelle Whitaker (Charlie’s Mother)
Image 2: Step by step process of in vitro fertilization
Photo Credits: News Medical Life Sciences
Moral Ethics
Scientists today are still in debate whether or not this subject is bio-ethically correct. Although the pros are quite obvious, preventing catastrophic genetic defects from affecting lives and being passed down, but should we really be designing our children to be as perfect as they can be?
Humans have always been on a different scale in terms of evolution than other animals. It raises the question of whether we should better understand this, before opening a door to newly heightened human evolution mechanism of always having perfect offsprings. Further consider and analyze it’s possibilities and consequences that comes with it over the future generations before going down this path.
On a less scientific scale, problems may also arise against religious beliefs, violation of the baby’s rights of not having the ability to choose what they are born with/without and lastly create a gap in society where social class of designer vs non-designer babies can also be alarming. Hence, the on-going debate between scientists today to justify this scientific breakthrough.
What is your opinion?
-Jason Gan
