We now live in a new world where human choice can go into the process of childbirth. In the UK, it is known that one in 50 children is born as a result of IVF. IVF babies are also routinely screened for any genetic diseases, with human choices thus being made to determine which embryos are selected for implantation. A US company offers customers the chance to choose the gender of their baby, and we even have the technology available to screen for the hair and eye colour of a baby, allowing parents to decide their preferences via IVF.
Genetic Engineering will Create More Desig
ner Babies
As research into genetic modification continues, the ability for scientists to modify embryos to pre-determined specifications increases. If commercially available, what would there be to prevent budding parents from using genetic engineering to create a baby who is resistant to disease, has the perfect hair and eye colour, as well as particular talents that will allow that child to go far in life?
This raises an ethical question as the possibility for societal divides to worsen crops up. There is also the potential for a “eugenics gap” between countries for as long as different nations (such as China and the USA) take opposite viewpoints to the editing of human genes.
