The concept of being able to genetically alter genes in the zygotic phase of human development was thought of as something quite impossible many years ago. Now however, our technological growth has increased at a rapid rate bringing us tools like CRISPR to bring this fantasy into the forefront of reality. While these scientific improvements are seen as a victory in more ways than not, it also strikes the discussion of whether it is acceptable to follow through with a concept such as designer babies.
What is a designer baby?
A designer baby is a baby who’s genetics were altered via genetic engineering along with in vitro fertilization in order to select which genes remain present or absent in the genome. The sort of technological tools we have currently and are improving upon that pertain to this process are CRISPR, in vitro fertilization, IVG, and mitochondrial transfer.
This is a simple explanation for how CRISPR-Cas9 works to modify gene sequences.
CRISPR-Cas9 is a gene editing tool that is quite modern and super revolutionary in genetic research. It uses a combination of “clusters of regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats” which is what CRISPR stands for and the protein Cas9 which serves as a snipping tool for DNA. This tool can allow for certain genes to be deleted and even replaced or repaired. In vitro fertilization is another tool that many people are much more familiar with. It involves fertilizing the egg with sperm outside of the body and then implanting the embryo into a uterus to undergo pregnancy and birth. Along with this process is IVG. IVG stands for ‘in vitro gametogenesis’ which turns any cell — such as potentially even a skin cell into a sperm or egg cell. This allows for the ability to create large amounts of eggs for which then using CRISPR to genetically alter all of them can help to create a catalogue where you can pick the best one. To read more about IVG visit this site here. Lastly is the mitochondrial transfer. Majority of our DNA resides in the nucleus of a cell. However, we also have mitochondrial DNA that is passed down by our mothers and in rare conditions may contain defects. With this technology one can replace the defective mitochondrial DNA and replace with a donor’s healthy DNA allowing for the born child to be free of potential health complications. That means the baby will have DNA from three parents, the father, mother, and donor mother. To learn more about this visit Live Science.com.
Benefits of genetic modification:
Image demonstrating the types alterations genetic modification can potentially create with designer babies.
As the use of genetic modification plasters the headlines when it comes to food (GMOs), the use of the same technology on humans has been hiding in the laboratories and becoming more and more developed. As there are benefits to altering genetics in crops (and of course disadvantages and unknowns as well) there are also potential benefits for performing it on humans as well. The use of gene therapy on unborn fetuses is the main focus for genetic modification. For example when a pregnant woman screens for genetic defects nowadays, they can see if their child will suffer from special needs or other complications. With gene therapy, those genes that cause the complications could be located, removed, and if necessary, replaced. This sort of alteration could also be applied to neurodegenerative diseases or cancer-inducing mutations. While this ability to make healthy designer babies sounds like an incredible proposition, it can also spiral into a lot of concerning aftermath. To read more about the benefits of genetic modification visit here.
Issues:
While eradicating certain defects and diseases in our future children may sound like a benevolent idea, it may turn into many different issues. For example if our scientists can alter genes that relate to cancer or cause health problems, there is no stopping them from changing a designer baby’s eye color, metabolism, or maybe even intelligence. This raises the bounds that we must consider when it comes to the point of marketing
This image is an interpretation of how one might potentially be able to “design” their baby by selecting genes related to skin and eye color, brain size, vision, and sight.
this technology. So maybe you’re okay with changing a baby’s appearance, IQ, or athleticism right? Well, guess how expensive it would be to do so. Only the richest of the rich would be able to have access to such technology, granting them to have even greater advantages than they already have. The designer baby era would potentially lead to ridiculous disparity between the upper-class and everyone else. According to Opinion Front.com the “diversity of the gene pool and human genetics would be affected…leading to a major percentage of the human race being wiped out by some major disease” if we head in the direction of gene modification unregulated. The conversation of ethics also arises. If you program your child to be above-average compare to others at something and, as their parent, direct them towards the path they planned for them to have, the child would just be a product of the parent’s desire and have no true autonomy. This is seen as morally wrong by many and quite frightening for people to hear. Additionally, we don’t know what the effects of modifying human beings may be in the long run (similar to our crops and GMOs!). Altering genes in a designer baby may cause a ripple effect in the rest of the DNA code, causing future problems that may be much worse.