Debate about designer babies

Every parent wants their child to have the best in life. But would this intale picking the best genes for them? Here is a collection of people’s views on the subject.


1, Today, babies with blue eyes and blond hair are all the rage. Ten years down the line, everybody is going to feel pretty silly about it, 'cause there's a new thing now - GREEN eyes! Now what? This'll be like being stuck with '80s hair for the rest of your life, or having had a tattoo done of some one-hit-wonder pop star like Vanilla Ice, who disappeared a few weeks after fame hit.

Regardless of the inherent dangers involved, I think its wrong in the same sense I think tattooing is wrong, albeit not closely as dangerous. Well, I should say I think tattooing is more stupid than wrong, but hey - that's only me spouting trash here.

2, my kid's gonna have four arms! Imagine! The little sucker will be able to mow the lawn and wash the car at the same time!

Wait a minute... that means I'll have to pay him twice his allowance?! Ah heck - I'll just leave it then.

3, There may be an outcry against this manipulation, but that will not stop it from happening. Humans are going to do it. So what are the positive aspects? There must be some.

Possibly to eliminate some or all of the deseases?
Increased intelligence?
Healthier, stronger bodies?
Prettier people? (But that, of course, should remind us that beauty is in the eye of the beholder)

What happens if one nation developes this procedure while the rest of the world bans it. Will that nation eventually rule the rest, by military or economic means?

4, I'm even against pesticides and preservatives. Whether created or evolved, our bodies are structured to intake certain chemicals that nature provides as only she can. I don't think we've realized our full potential even. We should be using science to draw closer to nature not wean ourselves from it.

5, I think the problem with the designer babies will be due to the limitations of genetic theory. One may be able to manipulate superfiscial things fairly easily but the genetic theory of consciousness is more of a joke and will lead to a lot of disappointment and social expense. If one considers the number of neurons and all the branching and synapses, it is going to take more than a few genes to have an progressive impact on that. It would probably requires thousands of genes each being modified and rearranged on the DNA.

6, This concept is sickening. Horrible. I would never "design" my babies. They come out however they are supposed to... and that is that. Nature is a balance... and we need a variety of ugly, beautiful, smart, dumb, hairy, and fat people. Think about what this'll do to our evolution... we'lll eventually be an entire race of beautiful, strong individuals... does this remind you of anything? WWII.... hitler, perhaps? I think somehow, if we start genetically engineering our species to our specifications.... it'll eventually come back around and bite us in the ass... because nature is only succesful when there is an almost perfect balance of concious beings.