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Essay / The Pros and Cons of Designer Babies - 1791
At one point, if someone was infertile, they couldn't have children. There was nothing to do. No more. Doctors can now offer them another option called in vitro fertilization. Additionally, biomedical engineers have advanced this field even further. They can use genetic manipulation to prevent certain genetic diseases such as asthma, muscular dystrophy and even significantly reduce the risks of diseases endemic in family history, such as breast cancer. One of these methods is the “three parents” idea. Reproductive surgeons will use the mother's egg, but replace the mitochondria that contain the disease with healthy second mitochondria from a different mother, resulting in a total of three parents. By contributing to the genetics of offspring, scientists are considering a new possibility: designer babies. These would be entirely “personalized” children. Manipulating eye color, hair color, facial structure, height, height, and many other changes are all possibilities. This is a modern field of medicine that opens up new horizons. However, these designer babies pose major ethical problems. People feel that scientists are taking total control of nature and that lines are being crossed that shouldn't be. For example, a scientist wanted her child to look like her, so she implanted an embryo and had a baby with blonde hair and blue eyes, just like she wanted, but this should be genetically impossible. This research into conceiving a baby should be regulated; it is ideal for preventing devastating illnesses that will worsen a human being's future life, but complete control of a baby's appearance and possibly personality, while possible, should be illegal in the United States. According to the American Pregnancy Association in...... middle Paper fibers usually prevent mitochondria from converting food into energy and are the result of genetic abnormalities, although some cases can be caused by exposures to toxins . These illnesses can also affect a child's ability to see or hear. Many people worry about the consequences of this procedure on parents and children. But an Oregon researcher, Shoukhrat Mitalipov, performed the mitochondrial procedure in monkeys and said it was ready to be tested in humans (Tavernisse, Sabrina). “Every time we get one step closer to tinkering with genetics to promote health, it's exciting and scary,” said Dr. Alan Copperman, director of the division of reproductive endocrinology and infertility at Mount Sinai Medical Center. in New York. “People are afraid that this will turn into a dystopian brave new world. » Allowing the three-parent baby plan will help create a healthier future.