Designer Babies

[Papenbrook]

How do you feel about the whole process?

While I think modifying babies can reap in good results in terms of preventing diseases, I think the process can also lead to people modifying their own infants' appearance, which is unnecessary.

[IndigoErth]

Yeah, agree it should only be in terms of preventing something genetic that a set of parents might have a high chance of passing on to their kids.

Other than that, what's the use of it unless someone is really that superficial and believe their child is just a piece of property. It's luck of the draw of a human being, not designing a fancy living room to show off to guests.

[Katie]

Most people can't afford it anyway.

Also eugenics

[ProactiveMan]

My understanding is that this kind of thing is only possible with IVF, and it's no more sophisticated than selectively implanting the embryos that have desirable traits. Is that correct?

I know they have successfully transplanted the nuclei of egg cells in human trials, but I don't think that is something you can elect to do at this time. That doesn't really monkey with the process too much anyway, it's just a way to determine whose DNA is in the cell.

I don't think it's anything to be too worried about at this point in time.

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

This is how we get Khan Noonien Singh.

Although, this is also how we get Doctor Julian Bashir.

[Utrommaniac]

I find that it's doomed to not work like potential parents will want it to. At least not for the next 50-300 years. (Forcing) nature is not a cure-all for certain conditions, and environmental factors will still cause things to go wrong, especially in the very, very early stages of infancy and the beginning of childhood.

There's still the issue of how the child will be raised, how they would be fed as a baby, if they will sleep in its own room or close to the mother, how they will be educated, how their peers will treat them, how their teachers will treat them, what city they'll live in, VACCINATION, and so forth. It might sound like I'm talking about psychological factors, but physical and neurological factors can be included in all of those things.

Genetic manipulation is not going to cut it. It can only do so much. Long ago, I saw something about it being able to determine the hobbies and personality traits and...no...that's not how it works.

[Papenbrook]

The conception of "Designer Babies" is not what it intends to be.

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/08/0...er-babies.html

[MsMarvelDuckie]

Originally Posted by CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy

This is how we get Khan Noonien Singh.

Although, this is also how we get Doctor Julian Bashir.

Technically only half right. Bashir was genetically enhanced AFTER birth. The ep on that aired just a week or so ago. He was already in school when his parents had him enhanced to correct some sort of defect. But it made him "better" than most other humans.

Though there WERE those yutzes created and raised by the (Enterprise series ep) Dr. Soong(sp?) who was ancestor of Data's "father"..... (Played by Brent Spiner, no less!)

[plastroncafe]

The process of making designer babies sounds a whole lot less fun than making them the conventional way.

[MsMarvelDuckie]

Originally Posted by plastroncafe

The process of making designer babies sounds a whole lot less fun than making them the conventional way.

And the conventional way is so much cheaper too!