Wednesday, December 5, 2018

Choosing Your Child's Genetics?

Choosing Your Child's Genetics?

        Most people have heard by now that scientists are slowly being able to change the genetics or alter them of an embryo so a parent can almost choose what their child looks like. For years this has been around and so has the controversy about genetically altering our species. Since the first in-vitro fertilization in 1977, to the genome being completed in 2003, to now, people who are unable to have kids, have been using this to their advantage. The way this works is that an embryo that is mutated or unhealthy is taken out or the healthy one is put into the womb. However, now there is even more to that than can be altered.
      There is now a company hoping to use this technology to alter a child's intelligence. Intelligence is determined by more than one gene but one company thinks they have determined the risk score which can determine if their IQ is above 75. This is something that is also very controversial although everything from this to choosing a sex is.
       These ideas however are very controversial. They have been compared to eugenics and the death of humanity. The issue is not curing people of deadly diseases but where the line is to not giving people the chance at life. This technology could allow you to choose your child however for the most part, it is only allowed for crippling diseases. Its obviously good where its saving people but the question then arises of where does it stop? More research is being done and it isn't available to the public...yet.
      For me personally this is a tough topic. On one hand you have the possibility of making sure your child is completely healthy which is something that every parent should want. On the other hand, is changing peoples genetics ethical? Should we be interfering with something we dont really understand? This seems like something that does actually destroy humanity because theres no more magic essentially. My biggest issue is that parents will change their kids if they see something such as downs syndrome is prevalent, not giving that child the chance to live. There are plenty of people who live with downs and are happy and grateful they are able to be here so why should we get the chance to decide on their life.

Link; https://www.forbes.com/sites/adambarsouk/2018/12/01/genetically-selected-babies-are-already-readily-available/#94125a412410

6 comments:

  1. I do not think we should be altering children's intelligence because I agree that it is similar to eugenics. Deciding how intelligent everyone should be in the population is not a good idea because that is saying everyone else with intelligence lower than that is a burden to society.

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  2. I agree with you that this is a particularly tough topic, in the aspect of altering intelligence. Gene alteration for intellect could be beneficial because if everyone in society had a high intellect society could function at a better level. However, it is very controversial because who are we to alter genes of people before they are born.

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  3. I agree with your opinion that this is a tough topic. It's definitely not easy to make a concrete decision on whether or not I support this. While it would be amazing to be able to ensure that your child would not have any health problems, people will take these abilities further than just health. People would start trying to modify their child's appearance, and that is where I think this gets out of hand. I can see many religious people disagreeing with these alterations of children because it is such an unnatural process. You're supposed to love your child no matter who they become and through whatever problems they have, but if I could save my child from the pain of some health problems, I think I would take the opportunity.

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  4. This topic definitely has its pros and cons and I can see where both sides of the argument are coming from. Even though it is said that they are changing intelligence and diseases, is there a possibility that other genes are being affected and we just don't know? Even when parents are told that their unborn child may have a specific disease, it is not always 100% accurate. I don't agree with changing the child completely just because there MIGHT be a possibility of the disease.

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  5. Such a great controversial topic to do research about. Obviously, there are many pros to genetic editing in embryo, when it comes fixing or curing possible diseases. However, when it comes to determining what kind of phenotypes your child will have you shouldn't be able to control that. Even intelligence should not be controlled. Although, it seems that these genes that control intelligence are not that real. I think it also depends on nurture not just nature.

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  6. This is a hard topic to discuss because both sides of the argument is equally just. This reminds me of a movie I saw in high school called Gattaca where society allows people to choose what traits they want in their offspring when they conceive. I agree that genetic alterations for devastating diseases is a good idea but at the same time that if life. Naturally, we should deal with what our genome has contained. Nobody has the right to choose if their child is going to excel academically or athletically. Awareness of such diseases should prompt an understanding and research not a fix to delete it altogether.

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