Designer Babies
What is a designer baby:
A designer baby is a baby whose genetic code has been altered. The main goal of this technology is to eliminate diseases but it can be used for several other traits. (Lerner, 2012)
How are they made?
Gene editing can be done with a technology known as CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats). Scientists can use this technology to remove genes or modify them during the embryo stage/gamete stage. CRISPR can extract and insert new code in the DNA with great precision. CRISPR technology is not a machine or a man-made technology. In fact, it already exists in our bodies. The CRISPR technology relies on the CRISPR-associated protein 9 enzyme, also called cas9 (CRISPR cas9). With CRISPR scientists split the A,C,G, and T in the DNA at specific locations. If the healthy normal gene is present in one of the parents DNA, the embryo can repair the area that had been removed using a template copy of a healthy gene. Then the embryo continues cell division with the healthy genes. This technique can be used to eliminate many heritable diseases and possibly cure cancer. (Gale, 2022)
Whats the point of designer babies?
The main reason for this technology was to cure heritable diseases. In the long run this technology can be used to change many features of a baby and youll possibly be able to design your own baby. With gene editing you can change your babys sex, eye colour, height, personality traits, and other physical traits. (Lerner, 2012)
Are designer babies safe?
The invention of designer babies allowing us to modify certain genetic traits not only raises ethical issues but also poses a risk to public safety. Although we have figured out how to modify genes in embryos, we still lack knowledge and understanding of the potential unintended consequences. (Lerner, 2012)
Benefits of designer babies:
Eliminate diseases: With this technology scientists can remove the genetic code that codes for heritable diseases and insert new code to cure it. (Lerner, 2012)
Extend human life expectancy: By altering the genetic code, scientists may possibly be able to extend human life expectancy in the near future. (Lerner, 2012)
Create more organ matches: With this technology scientists can create organ donor babies. These babies would be coded to match organs to the patient needing them. Their sole purpose would be to provide organs to the patients in need (there are many ethical considerations before scientists start this process).
Risks of designer babies:
Possible unknown effects: Since scientists arent experts in this technology yet, it can be hard to tell if the gene editing has been done inaccurately or is incomplete. This can cause a lot of issues to the baby that gene editing has been done on. (Saravanan, 2023)
Negative interactions with other gene variants: We cannot know how the new code interacts with other gene variants in the surrounding environment until the designer baby has grown a bit. By then it might be too late to fix it. These interactions can be dangerous as it can also introduce new diseases that scientists have never dealt with. It can also lead to an outbreak and possibly cause a lot of deaths like COVID. (Saravanan, 2023)
Decreases genetic diversity: Genetic modification can affect the human gene pool. It can disrupt evolutionary processes which might reduce genetic diversity. This can make humans more vulnerable to certain diseases.(Saravanan, 2023)
Conclusion:
CRISPR technology has brought the future to the next level. With CRISPR we will be able to solve issues that scientists have been trying to solve over the last decade. Although we could do wonders with this technology, we also have to keep in mind that a mistake can lead to an outbreak and put the publics safety at risk. Since we are still not fully aware of the unforeseen consequences I would not recommend putting this technology out just yet. The negative impacts that this technology brings are not quick and easy to solve and can potentially harm the entire human population. According to me the best way to implement this technology would be to do more research and testing until we are clear about the consequences this technology poses. If we are still unclear about certain gene modifications, we can still introduce this technology to solve issues that we have a clear understanding of and know the consequences in depth. This way if there are any unforeseen consequences such as lack of gene diversity or negative impacts with other gene variants we would be aware and try to fix it before releasing that modification.
