http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/535661/engineering-the-perfect-baby/
There's this new obsession with genetics. It's the new hottest everything. You can change this and alter that. It's everyone's fantasy to have the perfect genome, isn't it? Just imagine a world where we could pick and choose the genes and traits that we gave to our children. Wouldn't it be grand? I think that if this is your thought process than you are way off. There are so many things that you aren't taking into account and it's an insult to yourself, your community, your heritage, your past, your ancestors, and just nature in general.
We wouldn't use this manipulation of genes for healthier children. We'd do it for the perfect child. They most beautiful. The models. Right? We just want to be pretty. We want to have the best combination of features. Do you want a boy or a girl? What will complete your American dream? This is the totally wrong way to go about it and it's abusing the powers that we've gained through knowledge. Messing with nature too much is never a good thing. We've proven that we can do it, but should we do any more?
I suppose that this end-all decision isn't mine to make, but I think that there is a lot that the public doesn't take into account. Cool concepts, but even for someone that full-heartedly believes in genetics/genomics, the power of it, and actually participates in genome engineering research, I think we should be cautious with how far we push this phenomena.
There's this new obsession with genetics. It's the new hottest everything. You can change this and alter that. It's everyone's fantasy to have the perfect genome, isn't it? Just imagine a world where we could pick and choose the genes and traits that we gave to our children. Wouldn't it be grand? I think that if this is your thought process than you are way off. There are so many things that you aren't taking into account and it's an insult to yourself, your community, your heritage, your past, your ancestors, and just nature in general.
We wouldn't use this manipulation of genes for healthier children. We'd do it for the perfect child. They most beautiful. The models. Right? We just want to be pretty. We want to have the best combination of features. Do you want a boy or a girl? What will complete your American dream? This is the totally wrong way to go about it and it's abusing the powers that we've gained through knowledge. Messing with nature too much is never a good thing. We've proven that we can do it, but should we do any more?
I suppose that this end-all decision isn't mine to make, but I think that there is a lot that the public doesn't take into account. Cool concepts, but even for someone that full-heartedly believes in genetics/genomics, the power of it, and actually participates in genome engineering research, I think we should be cautious with how far we push this phenomena.
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