Designer babies could be approved in future, says medical ethics panel

billysielu said:
in b4 they make it illegal to design a baby that isn't a perfect mix of all races, sexes, etc.
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I don't think that's the goal here.

StriderX said:
What about all the people groaning on about how abortion choice with Down's Syndrome children?

Will they still groan if they can eliminate the disease, but save the child? I wonder how they'll shift the argument, probably into absurdist levels of stupid, much like the Anti-Vax and homeopathic crowd.
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Surely it's a much more complex problem with Down's. They have an extra chromosome (if I remember correctly), so I don't think that they can just add one in.

I believe people argue very strongly for the persistence that people show towards Down's children because they can live very "normal", successful, and relatively healthy lives.
 
Loves Love Island said:
don't see why they shouldn't;'t allow this tbh... allowing people to lower the risk of certain diseases is beneficial to the health service, the economy etc.. and if parents want to make sure say the blue eyed gene they carry is inherited then where is the harm..
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Guy on tv just raised a good point for the cosmetic side.


"The unborn child cannot give consent and never will be able to give consent"
 
Genetic engineering in the future is going to create such a crapstorm I suspect. I'm pretty sure when medical science finally understands how to alter everything in our DNA before we are born then that will open pandora's box.

They will be able to cure everything that is wrong with the baby before they are born, that includes their sexuality and disabilities.

Gattaca and even Star Trek 2 The Wrath of Khan explored these subjects and so many others.
 
Kreeeee said:
You mean just like how we currently have high A-level grades as entry requirements for decent universities now?
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That's what I mean kreee, we may reach a point where only those modified would be able to get the correct A level grades effectivly removing social mobility from those unable to modify thier children.
 
I wish you could choose the gender. It's a random selection anyway and doesn't impact anything else. You'd certainly see a lot less families with 5 boys who clearly just kept trying for a girl, and a lot more families with 2 children of each sex which would help stabilise population growth whilst maintaining a gender balance. Even if they limited it to the 2nd child only.
 
I'd love to have been born better looking!

But people do love to categorise things so I'm sure if everyone looked great something else would decide attractiveness.

Gender shouldn't be chosen.

But this is a slippery slope to designer babies. I'm sure it will happen.
 
4K8KW10 said:
I have read that the Queen doesn't like potatoes. And I am going to ask - is there anything in potatoes that is potentially harmful, so the Queen avoids it?

About beauty - yes - imagine a society of just beautiful people - it would be more pleasant for everyone.
Everyone is looking for a beautiful partner, and the less beautiful have less chances to get a beautiful partner.
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People would still find something else to chose on.
Would suck to be born just before it comes in!
 
adolf hamster said:
i have but 1 word- gattaca
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it is coming said this years ago. then comes the money side of things. you can only have this option or that option depending on cost. ohhh..i will take the chance on that option as i dont have enough money :( . then relate the jobs and careers to people who have got enough to pay for it vs people who cant pay. who are all janitors.
 
robfosters said:
I agree with the health point, but I’m not sure about cosmetics. That should be left to nature surely?
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Good looking people do better educationally, career and marriage/procreation wise though, so their looks have a direct impact on their future, including improving the chances of the parents having grandchildren.

If you're selecting based on eliminating disease to make the child's life better, then selecting based on looks is just as valid (is being ginger a disease?).
 
BuffetSlayer said:
Good in one sense.

Potentially catastrophic in another.

Imagine - you engineer perfection but add a back door. A kill switch.

Things start to get pretty scary when you consider how this could be used in nefarious ways, which let's face it - it probably would be.

If you can engineer weakness out, you can engineer it in.
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I look forward to "execute order 66" becoming a reality.
 
Ignoring custom selected IQs/looks, surely from a disease/genetic defect perspective, that would be funded by the government, as it would save them money in the long run when thinking about life-time NHS costs?
 
Russinating said:
I wish you could choose the gender. It's a random selection anyway and doesn't impact anything else. You'd certainly see a lot less families with 5 boys who clearly just kept trying for a girl, and a lot more families with 2 children of each sex which would help stabilise population growth whilst maintaining a gender balance. Even if they limited it to the 2nd child only.
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You would have a massive gender imbalance.


And population growth stabilized a long time ago in most developed countries. The biggest issue is actually negative population growth. many government are actively engaged in trying to increase population growth because of this. Even in developing countries growth rates have plummeted.
 
Tefal said:
I mean more say we discover a way to modify intelligence then after q few generation we end up with "only people with intelligence mod 2.0 or above are allowed to apply to med school" or not even alowed simply can't compete to get a space etc
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That doesn't make much sense tbh... unless you just want to try and fit this Gattaca idea into real life. We're talking about editing some genes, there isn't some specific "mod" but rather lots of small changes that could be made.

If for some reason we lived in some dubious society where unethical criteria were used for admissions etc.. then that's a separate issue anyway (and we'd probably have rather more to worry about with some fascist rulers looking out for their master race etc..). Whether or not genes can be edited doesn't stop someone from deciding that say only white and asian people can go to medical school.

Tefal said:
"The unborn child cannot give consent and never will be able to give consent"
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They don't get a choice in the first place so no change there, as for consent and "unborn child" thats a dubious route to go down... they don't consent to being aborted either and would probably like to live if they were given the choice.
 
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