Designer Babies...

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Interesting read. Yikes. This article has eugenics all over it. Run for the hills!
 
just finished watching a segment about this on world news tonight. Really bothers me that parents could potentially pick the traits that they see as desirable in their offspring.
 
KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANn
 
This is so stupid. Let's have humans select genetic traits rather than natural selection and then eliminate the diversity and the potential for mutations that allow us to survive an epidemic. Charles Lindbergh would be so proud.
 
Well let's hope we get some laws through that ban this unnatural selection for physical traits (eye color, sex, etc), because that is seriously disturbing. :scared:
 
Thats terrifying. We may have found a way to really hasten some artificial selection. Not good....
 
I wonder what the legalistic issues would be if it didn't come out exactly as you wanted. I can imagine parents going like...

parent "I SAID I WANTED BLOND! "
doctor "It is blond."
parent "NOOOO. I WANTED A MORE REDDISH BLOND. NOT THIS WHITE BLOND!!"

:laugh:

imagine the lawsuits.

what are they going to do if the kid isn't "perfect"? Return them?
 
In the article it says they parents are given a probability of whether or not the kid will be those certain traits, rather than a definitive answer.
 
bleeker10 said:
In the article it says they parents are given a probability of whether or not the kid will be those certain traits, rather than a definitive answer.
Click to expand...

thats even worse for the children...what if a parent chose the desirable traits that they wanted for the child and the baby that they had did not possess them? How would the parents feel about this? Would they try again until they got a child with the traits they desired? Put the one child up for adoption?
If the child does not match up to the traits that their parents designated for them, the child is going to be the only one hurt in this situation.

100% wrong in my opinion
 
Meh. Personally I never really had anything against the idea. I think it would be handy to a point (preventing serious genetic disorders), but completely understand that it could easily cross the line eventually as it became abused. In which case, it would then IMO become ethically and morally wrong.
 
TheGoodGoodTime said:
Meh. Personally I never really had anything against the idea. I think it would be handy to a point (preventing serious genetic disorders), but completely understand that it could easily cross the line eventually as it became abused. In which case, it would then IMO become ethically and morally wrong.
Click to expand...

That's the debate. It is currently being used for genetic disorders, but they want to expand it to areas that do not concern the health and well-being of the baby; that's when it goes too far. I don't think anyone here is against using this technology for medical reasons.
 
DoktorB said:
Check this out

This is on the horizon...personally it scares the bejesus out of me.
Click to expand...

This is old news.

Edit: People can already, and have already done, chose sperm from professional male athletes. They can also chose an egg from a female professional athlete.
 
CardioPlus said:
Well let's hope we get some laws through that ban this unnatural selection for physical traits (eye color, sex, etc), because that is seriously disturbing. :scared:
Click to expand...

What is so illegal with choosing the color if your hair and the color of your eyes? The problem is sex selection, height, and the like. Now what hair you want your child to have.
 
schussboarder said:
thats even worse for the children...what if a parent chose the desirable traits that they wanted for the child and the baby that they had did not possess them? How would the parents feel about this? Would they try again until they got a child with the traits they desired? Put the one child up for adoption?
If the child does not match up to the traits that their parents designated for them, the child is going to be the only one hurt in this situation.

100% wrong in my opinion
Click to expand...

That can simply be explained by epigenetics and mythlation.
 
Semicolon said:
That's the debate. It is currently being used for genetic disorders, but they want to expand it to areas that do not concern the health and well-being of the baby; that's when it goes too far. I don't think anyone here is against using this technology for medical reasons.
Click to expand...

Correct. Nothing wrong with chose the color of hair and eyes though.
 
DOquestions said:
This is old news.

Edit: People can already, and have already done, chose sperm from professional male athletes. They can also chose an egg from a female professional athlete.
Click to expand...

Its not old news. That is completely different, this is downright scary genetic modification and control of genetic variability. Not a smart idea..

DOquestions said:
What is so illegal with choosing the color if your hair and the color of your eyes? The problem is sex selection, height, and the like. Now what hair you want your child to have.
Click to expand...

Its not illegal (yet)...Is it unethical/a really bad idea? I would say so. Sex preference is already available across the country and the clinic in question already performs this. The point is that changing the hair color/eye color will inevitably lead to things like intellect and physical morphology. Splitting hairs on the issue is pointless because one change will lead to the next very quickly, and there is too much gray area.

Fixing/screening for real genetic abnormalities (NOT diversity) is actually aimed at avoiding true health conditions and has great promise. This is not the place for cosmetics. Natural Variance is the foundation for evolution and is the only way that humans have been able to thrive the way that they have since their existence. Tampering with this could be really dangerous.

PLUS only the wealthier upper class can actually afford cosmetic genetics. That paints a scary picture of what would be to come generations down the line. Think about the extreme elite that would come from this. Kids would come from a wealthy background, and have superior physique and intellect. That would be devastating to the lower class and those in poverty who would never be able to compete or move up from their socioeconomic status.
 
DoktorB said:
Its not old news. That is completely different, this is downright scary genetic modification and control of genetic variability. Not a smart idea..



Its not illegal (yet)...Is it unethical/a really bad idea? I would say so. Sex preference is already available across the country and the clinic in question already performs this. The point is that changing the hair color/eye color will inevitably lead to things like intellect and physical morphology. Splitting hairs on the issue is pointless because one change will lead to the next very quickly, and there is too much gray area.

Fixing/screening for real genetic abnormalities (NOT diversity) is actually aimed at avoiding true health conditions and has great promise. This is not the place for cosmetics. Natural Variance is the foundation for evolution and is the only way that humans have been able to thrive the way that they have since their existence. Tampering with this could be really dangerous.

PLUS only the wealthier upper class can actually afford cosmetic genetics. That paints a scary picture of what would be to come generations down the line. Think about the extreme elite that would come from this. Kids would come from a wealthy background, and have superior physique and intellect. That would be devastating to the lower class and those in poverty who would never be able to compete or move up from their socioeconomic status.
Click to expand...

The concept of choosing traits is decades old. It was only a matter of time until technology allowed it to occur. I've been studying this stuff on my own since 2002. Genetic textbooks even back then had chapters written just about this type of topic.

This is nothing knew (the theory of it). There are places that already offer this stuff based on a profile from the donor. You can't select for IQ outside of what the profile contains from a donor. IQ is a complex trait and there is no single gene or genomic region.

Physical morphology? Blah. We humans already do this every single day when we select a sex mate. A prominent college athlete can donate sperm or egg and provide their whole profile to whatever couple (or a single female) wants. The donor will provide their height, weight, sport they played in (remember, I'm talking about the elite athletes), eye color, skin color, etc, etc. There was one prominent NFL TE who has provided 14 births and a very well known NFL QB in the N.E. part of our country has allowed mothers to give birth with his genetic material. The people who do this go under some intense education before they are allowed to go through it.

In theory, select traits in an egg or sperm in a dish is not different then choosing a sex mate with certain traits. I'm serious.
 
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GATTACA! Can anyone say 'borrowed latter'? If this becomes the norm, then a good piece of fiction may become reality. Too bad for the children of poor folks, right?
 
Pff what are you guys talking about, I can't wait to design my baby ... so romantic. I'm waiting for more advances so I can raise my own clone.


J/KKKKKK

It's all really creepy. Science goes too far sometimes.
 
Why stop progress? Let them choose their hair color, eye color, whatever.
I don't see the problem. In 100 years, this will look so trivial it'll be mind-boggling. We're talking about being on the cusp of busting loose of the evolution game - self-engineered evolution. There's far more radical implications for this than eye color: intelligence, physical abilities, disease erradication, longevity, who the hell knows what else. I say let it all come; there's going to be a wave of parents who all pick purple eyes, and that generation will be able to select their own eye color by the time they turn 18 anyway through being able to selectively turn on/change specific genes anyhow, right?
 
I don't like this idea either. Very creepy and should be illegal. But if you think the current administration would ban this or make it illegal, that seems to be wishful thinking.
 
DOquestions said:
This is nothing knew (the theory of it). There are places that already offer this stuff based on a profile from the donor. You can't select for IQ outside of what the profile contains from a donor. IQ is a complex trait and there is no single gene or genomic region.
Click to expand...

Im not saying the theory hasn't been around. derr. Im talking about being able to do this specific of modification. Thats what is new.
 
rddoms said:
GATTACA! Can anyone say 'borrowed latter'? If this becomes the norm, then a good piece of fiction may become reality. Too bad for the children of poor folks, right?
Click to expand...

Aldous Huxley would also be proud
 
I'm gonna make copies of myself and have them go everywhere.

One will go to church so I can make my mother happy

One will go to the gym so I can keep in shape

One will go to work for me

One can throw tennis balls for eternity so my dog is happy

One would go food shopping which is really what I need done right now but I'm just too damn lazy to go.

One would go buy hookers cause one way or another, you pay for it



Yeahhhhh this is gonna work out great 😀
 
DoktorB said:
Its not old news. That is completely different, this is downright scary genetic modification and control of genetic variability. Not a smart idea..



Its not illegal (yet)...Is it unethical/a really bad idea? I would say so. Sex preference is already available across the country and the clinic in question already performs this. The point is that changing the hair color/eye color will inevitably lead to things like intellect and physical morphology. Splitting hairs on the issue is pointless because one change will lead to the next very quickly, and there is too much gray area.

Fixing/screening for real genetic abnormalities (NOT diversity) is actually aimed at avoiding true health conditions and has great promise. This is not the place for cosmetics. Natural Variance is the foundation for evolution and is the only way that humans have been able to thrive the way that they have since their existence. Tampering with this could be really dangerous.

PLUS only the wealthier upper class can actually afford cosmetic genetics. That paints a scary picture of what would be to come generations down the line. Think about the extreme elite that would come from this. Kids would come from a wealthy background, and have superior physique and intellect. That would be devastating to the lower class and those in poverty who would never be able to compete or move up from their socioeconomic status.
Click to expand...

Gattaca might not be that far off...
 
rddoms said:
GATTACA! Can anyone say 'borrowed latter'? If this becomes the norm, then a good piece of fiction may become reality. Too bad for the children of poor folks, right?
Click to expand...

oops, beat me to it.
 
Sorry not to be picky or anything but isn't it "borrowed ladder"? Hence the DNA ladder. However, degenerate or my personal favorite "god child" were in my opinion better. And yes this scares the heck out of me.

PS: Interestingly I believe the sperm bank that opened using donations only from top scientists and athletes in Europe closed due to bankruptcy. They were never able to show a significant difference in the offspring's IQ or athletic ability compared to offspring from any other donation sites. Hundreds of genes code for intelligence not just one or two.
 
we were discussing this at work today [Dialysis treatment center] and talking about just how scary this potentially could become. Of course, there have been advocates in the past for this very thing who, thank GD, didn't have the tech. to do so... hmmm, Hitler comes to mind.
 
bryce said:
we were discussing this at work today [Dialysis treatment center] and talking about just how scary this potentially could become. Of course, there have been advocates in the past for this very thing who, thank GD, didn't have the tech. to do so... hmmm, Hitler comes to mind.
Click to expand...

Hah, I was thinking about that, too. Hitler wanted to create a superior Aryan race with the same traits (blonde hair, blue eyes, etc.). Scary that science/technology may be able to go so far as to actually make such schemes possible...
 
bryce said:
we were discussing this at work today [Dialysis treatment center] and talking about just how scary this potentially could become. Of course, there have been advocates in the past for this very thing who, thank GD, didn't have the tech. to do so... hmmm, Hitler comes to mind.
Click to expand...

This is exactly the problem. Even if you open the door a crack, its still open and will be very difficult to close.
 
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