Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis can be used to select for certain traits before the embryo is implanted for pregnancy.
These traits can be gender, eye colour or specifically wanting a genetic condition such as dwarfism or deafness. The process can also be used to screen for genetic diseases.
Should we be able to screen for designer babies?
Designer Babies or PGD (Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis) helps you make sure that children will never have any diseases, parents should have the right to choose exactly what they want as a child. The normal human has 23 pairs, or 46, chromosomes. If there are too many chromosomes, or too few, the embryo is likely to die. If it survives to birth, the child is likely to have a serious disease. A person with three copies of chromosome 21, for example, has Down syndrome. A girl born with just one gender chromosome has Turner syndrome. PGD lets doctors implant only embryos with 46 chromosomes.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to decide whether or not to use genetic screening to select a healthy embryo, it is a straightforward decision.
Bioethicist Thomas Murray said "IVF and preimplantation screening spare a woman from getting pregnant with a fetus that has a genetic disease or a mutation that leads to dire illness. The ethical case for not implanting this embryo is powerful. But then you get people who care about the gender of their child or want to select an eye colour. The technology is not limited to finding and preventing horrible illness.”
Current technology does not allow parents to order up an embryo just like a cheeseburger, but they can create embryo after embryo and choose which one to implant. If they try long enough and can afford it, they may be able to create and select an embryo that has the desired gender, eye colour, and hair colour etc.
I am for Designer Babies because parents really should have the chance to choose the child of their own choice.
But, designer babies also works the other way. When you have a deaf couple, do you take away the chance of deafness or make sure that that deafness is a 100% chance of it happening? There is something to ponder on...
Kieran Sinclair-Lomax, Year 7
Clarkville School
New Zealand
Kieran in love it's not about picking what you want, you have to learn to live with whatever you get. Because did you get to pick everything pin life, good or bad.
DeleteIn life you can't pick how tall or fast you are, so why do we get to pick this.
Think about this do you really want to pick everything in life or do you want some to be a surprise
Lachlan
Well Lachlan,
DeleteIn PGD, you can choose how tall or fast you are, it is just very complicated. And you wouldn't be the one without the surprise. It would be a treat to have a "perfect" child.
Kieran you are wrong they can get a disease by if you use DNA from the parent (if they have a disease) but if you give them blindness or deafness they would be stuck with that and couldn't change it. I know you may say why would they do that but some people would and could do that to be the same as them and that wouldn't be right that would be really wrong and cruel.
Delete-Kyle Smith
Well actually Kieran nobody is expected to be perfect,you shouldn't expect your child to be perfect.Parents are using embryos inappropriately
Deletefor example,giving your child blindness,deafness or disability.Do you really think that these innocent children deserve this Kieran.The reason the parents are doing this to their children is because the embryos give them a choice and power over their children,they think they can play dress up with their child without thinking of the side effects.How silly.
Amber
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DeleteI disagree completely Kieran you can't expect your child to be perfect no one perfect as u must know, what if you have a child and you tell them there perfect so they will turn into a brat and just bragging to everyone how perfect he or she is but someones gonna tell ur child the truth and how will u think they will feel after that?
DeleteParis
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteKieran, I disagree with you because your child doesn't need to be perfect. You should just have a normal baby without all the designer stuff. If they have disability or any kind of illness, it won't matter because you will still love he/she EXACTLY the same. Say if you did decide the hair, eyes, and the gender, what happens if it is born with a disability and it didn't turn out how you wanted it to be. Would you rather keep it or neglect it? It doesn't need to be PERFECT.
DeleteKieran why would anyone want to change a baby because everyone is special in their own way also other children in the family can get jealous because the parents will love the baby because it was their wish. If the doctors do not be carful the process could go wrong and the baby could die so they have to take their time so the baby could come out late. Who would want that ?
DeleteAnnie
It is a horrible idea to have a GM baby. If someone decides to have one, there are many risks that the mother will be taking including the fact that the technology isn't 100% safe yet and if the process is not done carefully it could easily be terminated.
ReplyDeleteIt is also unknown wether or not genetically made babies will affect genes further down the family tree, also most genes have more than one use, so you could end up with a very intelligent but angry kid.
Trinity.
Okay then,
DeleteYou can change emotions that are possible to occur, preventing a smart but angry child, or even making it so that you could have an average but very nice child, the possibilities are endless [almost].
I believe that you should NOT be able to choose what your baby gets to be like because some people would make their baby blind or deaf and they might not want to be what you choose them to be or if you make them blind or deaf that would be cruel, but it could not just be cruel it could ruin their life because they would be stuck with that forever.
ReplyDeleteThey might not have as many opportunities to do stuff because they might have a disability and they might get bullied by other people.
-Kyle Smith
You are completely wrong. I think you should be able too because you might want a baby to fit a name
Delete-Finn Arthur
Designer babies, what is the point your just designing your child when you can have a baby yourself and it will naturally look like you and he/she will be special and when you design your child he/she be special to you as much.
ReplyDeleteHere are some of the things I find pointless about Designer Babies:
-You can choose if you want he/she to have a disease ( no cancer )
-You can choose he gender ( boy girl )
-You can choose hair and eyes
-You can choose if you want he/she to be deff or blind
So that is why I am against designer babies.
Ruby
You may think that it is pointless, but why is it pointless Ruby, preventing cancer would be a phenomenon for cancer all around the world! That would save millions of lives, who wouldn't want to do that?
DeleteKieran S-L
Designer Babies is when you can choose what you what you want your child to be like. I am for designer babies because when you choose what you want your child to be like you are able to choose it to not have any chance of cancer or a disease. Studies show that there is also more chance that your child will succeed in life and have an increased life span. Another good thing about designer babies is that you can prevent the next generation of your family from getting diseases. The traits you can change in your child are gender, appearance, intelligence, disease, personality. Sure, this kinda means you don't love your child how it is, but how would you like to have the chance of getting life threatening diseases such as asthma, melanoma skin cancer and general cancer. With designer babies you stop your child from having any chance of a disease and let them live a normal, healthy life. This is why I am for designer babies.
DeleteIzzy
I know you can check for disability's or diseases with embryos but in fact you could be risking your babies life by selecting embryos for your children,if the baby has too few or too many chromosomes then the embryo will die making the baby have a serious disease if it survives,then will they have a bigger life span then others,no.This is a serious risk and it has to be stopped all these parents that are using embryos are becoming selfless all they want is perfect babies,well they need a dose of reality.
DeleteI think that selecting embryos for your kids is totally unnecessary you shouldn't be able to change the way your child looks while tummy,especially making your baby have a disability,deafness or blindness just because there parents have it.
ReplyDeleteSelecting embryos is also very dangerous because facts state that in the early days of PGD doctors counted the amount of chromosomes that are in the embryo because if there are too many chromosomes then the embryo will die causing the baby to have a serious disease if it survives.
Your baby looks the way it looks you shouldn't be able to change that,I know you use embryos to make sure your child doesn't have and diseases but the fact that parents are using embryos to change their child's look is unacceptable.
Staying on that note,embryos are giving parents power over their yet to be born children,they can change their gender,eye colour and hair colour.With these choices parents are becoming more and more ungrateful,for example if your child is not the way they want it to be,you could end up abandoning it or just not being very happy with their baby,causing their mother-daughter relationship to die.
Do we want ungrateful parents all around the world or should we just accept the fact that nobody is perfect or is expected to be perfect?
I agree with you Amber, you shouldn't be able to decide the characteristics for you baby. Your baby doesn't need to be perfect, it won't matter if the baby had a disability because you would still love it the same way
DeleteSophie
As you must know everyone wants their children to be perfect,well,in the early days of PAD doctors counted the amount of chromosomes,if their are too many or too few chromosomes then the embryos will likely die.Only if the baby survives he or she will have a serious disease.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't you want a surprise?I know it could be cool but that's sexist saying you want a boy baby with blonde hair and blue eyes like don't you think your baby should have its own features and its own unique flaws,it is your own baby.
Currently technology does not allow parents to order up an embryo,but they can create embryo after embryo and choose which one to implant.If they try long enough and can be able to afford it they may be able to create and select an embryo that has the desired gender,eye colour and hair colour.
I am against designer babies because people should be fine with what they have a baby of your own,be happy with what you have and move on nobody's perfect.
Designer babies is something that people can do to decide their baby. They can decide the hair,eyes,gender,characteristics like that. I don't think it is right to design your own baby because it isn't a normal baby it doesn't need to be perfect. Researchers are saying by doing this you could get a disease called mitochondria which travels from mother to child. People have been designing their own baby and it just isn't right. You can't love like that you should love it the PROPER way.
ReplyDeleteSome people neglect their baby because they don't like he/she. If you design your own baby there is no surprise you should just be proud and happy for what you get. There should be no such thing as perfect. it's not right because you are deciding your characteristics of your baby that isn't even born.
The word perfect could mean anything it doesn't matter what you get you should just be proud and happy. You should take your special baby they way it is, not design it so it is PERFECT. The designer babies should became illegal because they will change human kind forever. I think you should be grateful with what you get whether their disabled or not. Every child might as well be identical if we design our own baby. That's my opinion
Sophie H
New Zealand
I agree Sophie. It doesn't matter what you want your baby to be, it still will be lovely as you want it to be. It maybe ugly or gorgeous, good or bad but still have a child.
DeleteLachie Smith-Taumata.
Designer babies are babies that you can choose to have their own features like no cancer you, can also choose gender (boy or girl) appearance (blond hair and blue eyes)intelligence (how smart) personality (funny).
ReplyDeleteDesigner babies are going to get more popular in the future which is terrible because other members in the family can be affected either physically or mentally. Because since it is the parents wish they could get jealous because the baby will get heaps of attention.
Why would anyone want to change a baby or anyone because everyone is special in their own way. If they do not take care well doing the process the baby could die so they have to take time, so that means the baby could come out late. That means something could go wrong with the baby and no one could guarentee that the baby would be your wish .
Annie Saunders.
I think we should not be able to design our baby because if you have an argument you might have to take a DNA test to prove that this is your own child. However the results will come out negative and no one will believe that this child is yours. In case you were wondering what DNA is it is your genetics that make up your hobbies and who you are as a person is.
ReplyDeleteTo have a girl some clinics are strict and you must of had a normal baby boy before you get your girl. If you decide to get your designed baby you must have a test to see if you can have the sperm injected. Which will cost a lot and then you might not be able to choose your baby.
Do you want to know a fact about designing your baby the mother will have some sperm from a tested donor to design a baby. Which would be weird. What is really scary is that believe or not there is no guarantee everything will be alright you might catch a disease from this if you’re the mother. I'm not sure about you but I wouldn't spend loads of dollars on not having a surprise baby. Which still wouldn't be perfect because you can't choose their personality.
Helaman
I think we should not be able to design our baby because if you have an argument you might have to take a DNA test to prove that this is your own child. However the results will come out negative and no one will believe that this child is yours. In case you were wondering what DNA is it is your genetics that make up your hobbies and who you are as a person is.
ReplyDeleteTo have a girl some clinics are strict and you must of had a normal baby boy before you get your girl. If you decide to get your designed baby you must have a test to see if you can have the sperm injected. Which will cost a lot and then you might not be able to choose your baby.
Do you want to know a fact about designing your baby the mother will have some sperm from a tested donor to design a baby. Which would be weird. What is really scary is that believe or not there is no guarantee everything will be alright you might catch a disease from this if you’re the mother. I'm not sure about you but I wouldn't spend loads of dollars on not having a surprise baby. Which still wouldn't be perfect because you can't choose their personality.
Helaman
I agree Annie,
ReplyDeleteWith everyone is special in their own way and that the designed baby won't be as special but if you have a child yourself he/she will be more special to you. Plus the designed baby might not be your guaranteed wish.
Ruby
Emma
ReplyDeleteDesigner babies what is it. Designer baby is a baby that has there appearance chosen for them so that a particular gene is present. Creating a generation of genetically modified humans could mess with evolution in unpredictable ways because humans were evolved or created by god it's just wrong to try and perfect something that has already been perfected over a large span of time. Technology would continue to be abused.
Designer babys are very expensive and will continue to be expensive. People should be worried about the downfalls of overusing our technology, as it could have an extremely detrimental effect on the worlds population. Designer babys may not do as you expected, you may ask for a beautiful girl with blue eyes, fair skin, and blonde hair. You might end up with a sweet tempered red head son, it is quite unpredictable.
Designer Babies , Against
ReplyDeleteWith today's new technology , enables parents to have children with or without a genetic disease normally for a savior sibling in need of a transplant, but is PGD going to far?
Now with letting parents to decide extra features and flaws? I believe that this is totally unnecessary. Wouldn't you want your own child with their own unique looks and personality? This process is not 100% safe yet and if the process is not done carefully it could be easily terminated.
Some couples decide that they a want a child that will be deaf like them so it can be part of their culture … but I find this unfair for the child in the long run. Dealing with bullying and the difficulties of learning is that what you want your child to go through I wouldn't think so.
Well that's something i'll leave you to ponder about…
Alyssa
Designer babies could be the way of the future and why not? Genetically modified babies , (if you choose the right traits) could be superstars or human geniuses which could lead a cure for cancer and everyone wants that!
ReplyDeleteTests show that a GMB (genetically modified baby) could have an increased life span and you can choose what kind of baby you would like e.g baby boy, brown hair, blue eyes and who wouldn't want that? Plus you can exclude your baby from certain diseases for example down syndrome, cerebral palsy, cystic fibrosis and cancer and that's just naming a few.
Some couples can’t have babies because of their genes but with this new technology they finally can. Designing a baby isn't as easy as ordering a big mac and fries, but they can create embryo after embryo and then choose which one they would like to implant. If they try long enough and can afford it, they may be able to implant their embryo of their dream.
Designer babies may be expensive but they are definitely worth the money, as your child may be the one to cure cancer or breath in space. Who knows the possibilities are endless!
Now that is some to mull over!
Macy Smith
New Zealand