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Date: 7/4/2013 3:05:00 PM ( From Author )
From Authorid: 53427
My opinion, screening for genetic diseases in order to choose a healthy embryo to implant is a good thing.. But anything beyond that, such as choosing sex, and physical characteristics is going too far.  |
Date: 7/4/2013 3:30:00 PM
From Authorid: 42945
I don't agree with it and wonder if we don't end up with eventually wiping out the human race?? fiddling round with nature can't be good...but that's just my opinion and I sure aint a Scientist lol  |
Date: 7/4/2013 4:36:00 PM
From Authorid: 64365
The only designer baby I want is the product of natural genetics.  |
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Date: 7/4/2013 6:33:00 PM
From Authorid: 998
I guess in a way, we have been designing our offspring for centuries. We don't think about it when we are attracted to that handsome guy or beautiful girl, but somewhere in our genome must be the urging that a fantastic next generation will come of the union. The catalog type of 'designed baby' can take a hike. Can't imagine how disappointed a person might be if their kid isn't tall enough or strong enough. Or maybe the eyes aren't the light shade of blue they wanted, so they sue the factory. Sheesh   |
Date: 7/4/2013 9:10:00 PM
From Authorid: 65687
So don't agree with this. My personal opinion, I think advancements that allow you to be aware of any future diseases, defects or disabilities that could come later in life would be a good thing, maybe even great as it could also aide in the advancement of medicine in a way, or prevention of allowing those to develop. But to choose and select features? Absolutely not. God creates us how we are and we are all beautiful. Why change something beautiful to God?  |
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Date: 7/4/2013 10:06:00 PM
From Authorid: 64819
Just for the sake of argument I think designer babies are a good thing. What is wrong with parents wanting to choose the gender of their baby? What if dad is the last male able to pass his name on? I'm pretty sure he'd like a boy, that way his name lives on for another generation. Hey doc, could you make sure that our kid doesn't have moles? Melanoma runs in the family. Can you make sure she doesn't have Hypertrichosis, we don't want her to live her life as a carnival attraction, like her dad. Can you make sure he doesn't have a 6th finger on each hand, really makes it hard to find gloves that fit (I actually know someone that has 6 fingers on each hand). It is possible to make sure my kid won't need glasses nor braces?, kids can bee so cruel. Of course nobody is going to walk in there and say, "Hey! I want my kid dumb as a post. There are too many healthy kids, lemme get one of them there sick ens."  |
Date: 7/5/2013 1:36:00 PM
From Authorid: 21903
Its sheer lunacy---but some of the ultra wealthy will probably be first in line when this technology advances. I don't mean to sound ugly like all wealthy people are shallow as sin, but watching celebrities and other lunatics on tv I realize that there ARE people out there who will want this. I don't think I'd want to "design" my own baby because how do I know what I really want? I personally think I'll just trust in nature/God to give me what I need in a baby. Besides...regardless how you "design" your kid - without the proper nurturing, who is to say someone with the genes of an athlete would even turn out to be one?   |
Date: 7/5/2013 6:17:00 PM
From Authorid: 54570
Have you ever seen me???  |
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Date: 7/5/2013 6:18:00 PM
From Authorid: 54570
And Adora.... Joey-Mack knows how to use his middle finger....not the sixth! He showed his gramma the other day in Cici's. |
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Date: 7/5/2013 6:49:00 PM ( From Author )
From Authorid: 53427
But once you start going beyond just a healthy embryo and allowing parents to pick gender and other non essential characteristics isn't that opening a whole can of worms? Kind of like playing God. I'm trying to think of an example, lets say a couple who has dwarfism (sp?), were to do IVF fertilization. Would it be wrong for the doctor to screen the embryos for that gene in order to implant ones with normal size? I'm kind of one the fence with this one.. I have no problem with deciding that people who want this procedure for normal cosmetic reasons are wrong.. But if you have a legitimate genetic disease, even if its not fatal such as dwarfism, is that a good reason? And if you allow this scenario, how much of a jump is it to weed out the babies with moles because of a family history of melanoma, as Adora mentioned. I mean, where does it end, at what point do we draw the line? |
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Date: 7/5/2013 6:52:00 PM
From Authorid: 21903
Girl, I think you said it best...where would it end? |
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Date: 7/5/2013 7:05:00 PM
From Authorid: 63194
I find it somewhat pretentious of us, as humans, to think that we can construct anything in this world that would not be natural. I’ll go off topic for a second before going back on. Consider the word “synthetic”. A synthetic substance, for example, might be defined as something fabricated by elements that would not come together “naturally” or otherwise on their own. How did we become so arrogant as to think that something WE do, such as scientists making crazy concoctions, is not in itself entirely natural? It is poorly articulated on my part, but this is the rationale I use in my own mind to explain a lot of things that people try to argue as unnatural, ranging from homosexuality to this very argument here. Are designer babies unnatural? If it happens in the womb by itself, or because doctors do whatever magic they do, why is it not natural all the same? The funny thing about life, and in translation, our species, is that eternity is not guaranteed. If designer babies result in some eventual inability for humans to reproduce, I would consider that to be a natural aspect of evolution.  |
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Date: 7/5/2013 7:18:00 PM
From Authorid: 63194
and then... how exactly would we define this? Would it not be a lot like eugenics? Of course, in eugenics your controls are on who breeds with who. In the designer baby world, it doesn't really matter who is doing the breeding - you're just taking the best (according to whom?) of whoever the mates happen to be. |
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Date: 7/5/2013 7:34:00 PM ( From Author )
From Authorid: 53427
I'm trying to figure out what exactly is pretentious about saying an embryo fertilized in a petri dish was conceived in an unnatural way. It's just stating the obvious. I guess I get your argument. All of the ingredients are natural, the sperm, and the egg. Its just the way they are brought together.. |
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Date: 7/5/2013 7:49:00 PM
From Authorid: 63194
That's why I excused myself by saying it is poorly articulated on my part. lol. Perhaps the statement itself is not pretentious - but more the overarching argument that the possible outcome, whether it be good or bad, is entirely natural in my opinion and just part of the evolutionary process. If we figure out a way to improve or impede reproduction, it is just a part of the course of our species. |
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Date: 7/5/2013 7:52:00 PM
From Authorid: 63194
I guess a more simple way to put it is... doctor putting all this stuff in a petri dish. Doctor is human. Humans are a part of nature... if a doctor puts ingredients together in a petri dish, it has happened in nature. |
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Date: 7/5/2013 8:03:00 PM ( From Author )
From Authorid: 53427
Okay, whatever your definition of the word natural.. Are you saying that because these procedures are possible, and because nothing can be unnatural does that make it right? What about ethics? |
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Date: 7/5/2013 8:08:00 PM
From Authorid: 11240
Just a very shallow concept as far as I am concerned. I would be way more inclined to attempt to manipulate brains over beauty. J/K. I didn't have to . . . God Bless.  |
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Date: 7/5/2013 8:18:00 PM
From Authorid: 63194
I look at nature and ethics as two different things. Nature: What CAN I do? Ethics: What SHOULD I do? Something being natural because it occurs in nature isn't the fairest argument about whether something is right or wrong, but even that is based on societal norms. You can kill a person, but should you? I remember being a little kid and asking the teacher "Can I go to the bathroom?", to which she replied "Yes", before going on about her way without handing me the pass. The question I should have asked was "May I go to the bathroom?". |
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Date: 7/5/2013 8:27:00 PM ( From Author )
From Authorid: 53427
Beezle Ben does anyone beat their head against the wall after talking to you? Lol!! I suppose the original question of this post is more geared towards the ethics of the situation.. Which I still have no idea where you stand. |
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Date: 7/5/2013 8:46:00 PM
From Authorid: 63194
I suppose if I had children or liked them I would have a heavier opinion. Because I don’t have kids, I don’t have a lot of emotion behind my opinion. Because I don’t necessarily like children I am again far removed from really caring all that much about it at all. But then, to say I don’t like children is cruel. It is probably more accurate that I don’t like children’s parents… especially parents who don’t make their children behave. That is another debate. I’m getting off topic… and to answer your question, I haven’t seen anyone hit their heads against walls after talking to me, but I have no doubt they may wish to do so. Where do I stand? I am human. Give me a checklist and I’d be the first to check off the “Make it healthy” box. Do I have enough restraint not to start checking off other boxes, like eye color, height, etc? Probably not. I don’t know that I have a very solid personal argument for or against it. What I would say is that I don’t disagree with it entirely, but that I greatly fear what it could lead to. |
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Date: 7/5/2013 9:07:00 PM ( From Author )
From Authorid: 53427
Yes I agree with you. I don't disagree with the idea entirely, some aspects are very positive, but I also fear what it could lead to. And I don't always like kids either and I have kids! |
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Date: 7/5/2013 9:13:00 PM
From Authorid: 63194
agreed! Now jump on over to my debate and weigh in! We must wake USM up!! |
| Date: 11/8/2013 8:43:00 PM From Authorid: 63161 I don't agree with it at all. Every time we have touched something to try and make something how we wanted, it always ends up in a disaster. There are just some things we should not have control over. |
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Date: 3/11/2014 4:19:00 PM
From Authorid: 67223
Designer babies, like everything else, have their pros and cons. I think since people still think of eugenics as something Hitler would think of, but it simply isn't all that "evil". I think by people "picking what they want" that there would be less child abuse and carrying on bad family genetic diseases (whether heart, diabetics, mental illnesses, etc). Think of it this way. Many people in this world are messed up mentally because they were born to parents who weren't ready to have children, financially stable, or parents who had huge expectations on them when they were little kids. There's many kids who were, and still are psychologically and mentally abused by parents didn't live up to the parents expectations. These children didn't choose to live, pick their own gender, looks, ability, or health issues. Many people have children just because they think they should, or think they should put their DNA here on earth, even when ignoring genetic health issues and other factors that could mess up a child. The thing is, no one's DNA or genetics are important in this world at this point. Unless you're born to royal family, no one's genes are special enough to keep continuing having children. "Designer babies" make it sound evil and dehumanizing, but isn't it better that than to have children that might have bad health issues or features you don't want in your kids. Even new age parents are still picky and are biased towards a certain gender child they want. For me, I wouldn't care what sex my child is, but for many people, the sex of the child does matter too much. On the flip side and cons of this, I think this could take away more free will of the child. Since the parents are picking everything for the child, does that mean the children can't have their own interest, wants, or goals in life? Would they have to be stuck being the person their parent created? I think wanting your own DNA and carbon copies of yourself is narcissistic most of the time, and I think maybe this could make it better or worse. |
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