So how far would this go? Eradicating disease? That's a good one, how about a universal height? Eye colour? Hair colour? What about impulsiveness? That's done both great good and great 'evil'. You could argue that may run in your genes. How about sports? Let's take the child's choices away shall we! Academic or sportsman? Should we flip a coin first? Oh I know! Everyone's always saying that sexuality is something you're born with, let's make SURE HE/she is the 'right' sexuality. My point is, it's a brilliant idea, so was nuclear fusion, now we could potentially destroy ourselves at the push of a button. In the 30's Some German scientists had a brilliant idea of getting into space, it was taken and attempted to be used to create a super weapon in space. The idea is good, how do you ensure it doesn't get in the wrong hands? Who would YOU trust? Your government? would you REALLY? Bare in mind that governments change, would you trust future governments with it?
These are the common comebacks of someone that is terrified of genetic modification because they don't know anything about it. I personally see no problem removing disease. Anything more is just unnecasary and well lets be honest facist. But removing herriditory diseases is totally fine. What's wrong with saving money and improving lives? The government as corrupt as it may or may not be, it would not be as stupid as to enforce facist genetic modification upon the people. They'd have to be elected for that with that as their policy.
Im inclined to agree with clumzeh. However the powers controlling this research would undoubtedly seek to make nazi like eugenics happen. For soldiers, scientists etc.
Firstly, the movie was made in the 90s and made some inaccurate assumptions that we would be able to like predict causes of deaths and stuff like this which is just straight up untrue. However I completely agree in the longevity comment. Genetic modification would certainly help people live longer since they're not going to develop herritory diseases.
Another thing to take into account. With even longer lifespans it is likely that the world population would increase. We are consuming too much at the minute. For a world like that ro work more countries would have to become 'third world'.
I don't like it personally, although if you can make someone healthier by doing something like this, it should be done. Eventually it will become easier and cheaper to do. That's what basically happens with all medical procedures
This topic is very very disturbing .Children are a gift and blessing .They bring so much joy no matter what they look like . This should be over ruled and banned in every country .It is going against nature.
I think of it as speeding up the process of evolution. Plus, you know how EVERYONE complains that they wish they had more time with their family? Well that's actually very close to being a possibility now.
Anyone who looks at their child as "inferior" to another child is probably not a great parent anyway. Are there things another child will be better at, yes. But placing a complete "inferior" tag on a child is ridiculous.
This would be fine but would likely lead to a further separation of the upper and lower class AT FIRST. But these are genes we're messing with, after a few generations these genetics would be passed on and there would eventually be somewhat of a balance. There will still be those "naturally gifted" and those who are "slow". This happens. I'd imagine a sperm donor who's a "designer baby" would get a lot of money.
i think its more a case of russian roulette or opening pandoras box. They do not understand enough about dna to be messing with this stuff. Changing dna could lead to all sorts of unexpected forced mutations further down the line. In fact we could create new diseases and complications from it. Think.of a balanced eco system where a new species or bacteria is introduced and it can end up destroying everything .Besides even if you could genetically make a perfect baby it could still develop all these diseases as some not all are affected by lifestyle and environment we live in . Eg make a perfect baby but he turns into an adult and chain smoke 20 a day etc not exercise etc he will still die so the better genes wouldnt have mattered. Humans will still be killing each other etc We are on a slow path to exstinction why do you think they are so desperate to colonise mars or another planet. This planet will not sustain us. And messing with genetics is a coin flip at best. It will either save us, doom us or a mixture of both . Its pointless arguing.about.it though its inevitable either we will freely embrace it or it will be secretly forced upon.us. Eventually it will be comparable to cosmetic surgery half the population was outraged at wealthy people paying to enhance their bodies using surgeries that was firsed used to treat people that actually needed it eg car crash victims having facial reconstruction etc now people dont like something they pay and change.it. Nobody cares about it anymore. This.is how.gen modification.will.go. same as when they first introduced genetically modified food everyone went mad now noone.cares
I thought this was gonna be a Photoshop thread where we get to design our own babies :'( I've always wondered what the offspring of Megan fox and the incredible hulk would look like... But seriously, it's the future... Whether the intent is to fix an inherited disease or to make superhuman halo-style spartan babies, or even just change their hair color... Its gonna happen and in a few generations it will be the norm. You know when cameras were invented, people believed that when your picture is taken it also steals your soul?... Or, to give a more recent and reasonable example, there were some scientists who were worried an atom bomb could cause a chain reaction and combust the entire atmosphere of our planet... Point being, every new technology is received with critism and worries. But we adapt to it, very few people will even correlate genetic modification and ethics a few hundred years from now, I'm more worried about the impact this will have on an already densely populated planet. I wouldn't be surprised to see a world effort begin in order to control and maintain a safe/sustainable population cap. And lets be honest, if there is any hope at all that you can in fact "fix stupid" i support it 100%
It doesn't have to cause a split between the wealthy and poor, given proper regulation. The genetic modification can simply be administered at birth as a replacement to vaccinations - it will save thousands of money down the road. And it's not about seeing people as inferior, either. It's about preventing harm and improving people's lives. Which life do you think would be more fulfilling - one which is riddled with disease, or one which lacks disease? Genetic mods wouldn't be a result of seeing certain people as inferior - they can be a way to vastly improve the lives of those with genetic disorders. People with genetic diseases or who are at risk of having kids with these diseases will benefit the most from this.