Designer baby
Encyclopedia
The colloquial term "designer baby" refers to a baby whose genetic makeup
has been artificially selected
by genetic engineering
combined with in vitro fertilisation
to ensure the presence or absence of particular gene
s or characteristics. The term is derived by comparison with "designer clothing
". It implies the ultimate commodification
of children and is therefore usually used pejoratively to signal opposition to such use of reprogenetics
.
s, available since the 1980s
, has led to proposals to apply such methods to the biological improvement of humans
. The term "designer baby," originally used pejoratively, has gained currency as a relatively neutral shorthand for such manipulations, which, as far as the public record is concerned, have yet to be implemented. Supporters of designer baby technology include liberal
technophiles
, libertarians
, and transhumanists
, who variously believe in a moral
imperative to improve society by improving the health
, intelligence
or physical capability of individuals, or in the right of individuals over the disposition of their own bodies and those of their unborn children. Opponents of the prospect of designer babies include those who object to experimentation on human embryo
s, either because they reject abortion
, which would be an inevitable consequence of some designer baby attempts, or because they oppose experimentation on humans in the absence of informed consent
. Some have projected a dystopia
in which a race of superior humans
look down on those without genetic enhancements, though others have counselled accepting this vision of the future. If genetic manipulation could successfully prevent diseases and disabilities, some have anticipated that discrimination against those with disabilities would greatly rise. It has also been suggested that genetic engineering could have deleterious effects on the human gene pool.
Genetic modification is widely believed to be capable of altering the full range of biological traits, from gender to susceptibility to disease
, and eventually appearance, personality, and even IQ. Such broad claims
for the efficacy of genetic manipulation have been disputed, however. Nonetheless, the perceived desirability of genetic modification technology has led to controversies concerning the price of such procedures and its ability to create a gap in society. Altering embryos is fairly recent technology and as it develops is a very costly procedure. With only the wealthy being able to pay for the modification that will eliminate disease for their children and eventually choose to treat people with disabilities or diseases and those used to enhance healthy people
. They are particularly wary of this technology’s ability to lead to a new eugenics where individuals are "bred" or designed to suit social preferences such as above average height, certain hair color, increased intelligence, or greater memory. Not only is the prospect of future generations of "better people" a metaphysical concern, but apprehension also arises from the possibility that such groups of people might become prejudiced against one another due to a feeling of lost common humanity with non-enhanced or differently-enhanced groups. Within journalistic coverage of the issue, as well as within the analysis of bioconservative critics, the issue of safety takes a secondary role to that of humanity, because it is thought that the ethical issue of safety can eventually be resolved by innovation and so should not be focused on due to its fallibility. The so-called Frankenstein argument asserts that genetically engineering designer babies would compel us to think of each other as products or devices rather than human individuals.
The genetic modification of humans can pose an ethical debate about the rights of the baby. One side of this issue is that the fetus should be free to not be genetically modified. Once the genetic modification of the fetus takes place then the baby is changed forever, there is no chance that the genetic modification completed prior to birth could ever be reversed. The opposing view to this is that the parents are the ones with the rights to their unborn child, so they should be able to have the option to alter their genetic code.
Despite the pejorative nature of the term "designer baby", a minority of bioethicists consider the notion of a designer baby, once the reprogenetic technology is shown to be safe, to be a responsible and justifiable application of parental procreative liberty
. The usage of genetic engineering (amongst other techniques) on one's children is said to be defensible as procreative beneficence
, the moral obligation of parents to try to give their children the healthiest, happiest lives possible. Some futurists claim that it would put the human species on a path to participant evolution
.
(PGD) adds another $4,000 to $7,500 to the cost of each IVF attempt. A standard round of IVF results in a successful pregnancy only 10-35% of the time (depending on the age and health of the woman), and a woman may need to undergo subsequent attempts to achieve a viable pregnancy. As a result, a successful pregnancy is very costly – and cost-prohibitive – for most women.
. If we completely eradicate sickle cell anemia, then more people could possibly die due to contracting malaria. This sheds a little light onto how complex the genome actually is. While inserting a gene to serve one purpose, we may cause other traits to be expressed that could be harmful to us. The repercussions of using seemingly harmless technologies that have not been adequately tested could be detrimental to us all.
. At the cost of $1,000, people can use this to determine their chances of disease or the origin of their non-disease-related traits, as well as discover patterns in DNA
sequences and understand the complexities of specific traits.
color. Once the virus is implanted into the embryos, those cells are cultured. After a few cycles of mitosis
, the cells that survive a dose of antibiotic
treatment or that are fluorescent are then transferred into the uterus. A test of the reliability of viral vectors was done in 2000 at Necker Hospital. Ten children who had a rare disease of X-SCID, a hereditary immunodeficiency disease
similar to AIDS
, were involved in the trial. After taking blood samples and infusing them with harmless retroviruses carrying the gene to correct the initial gene that was causing their illness, the blood was transfused back into the ten children. Because of the misplacement of the gene, three of the children developed leukemia. Therefore, the problem with viral injection is misinsertion. Viral DNA places itself anywhere on any chromosome, which can lead to problems with the functioning of other genes, otherwise known as insertional mutagenesis
. However, nine of the ten were cured of the initial disease, so viral injection is still a plausible technology to be used for a "designer baby."
. This process of identifying, cutting out, and replacing a misspelled sequence of DNA
letters occurs naturally in the cell. While homologous recombination
avoids the problem of insertional mutagenesis
, it is very inefficient, producing only about one out of a million cells that have actually taken up the new gene sequence.
s, or HACs. This would involve adding a completely new chromosome to the forty-six others that we already have. The benefits are that the new genes on the HACs would not disrupt the existing genes on the other chromosomes and scientists would be able to create promoter regions that could be used to turn the gene on and off. There are critical flaws in this method, though, including the fact that usually extra chromosome
s have been linked to diseases. Also, in order to pass along genes to offspring, there must be a matching chromosome from the other partner, so at least right away these HACs may not be particularly useful for germline, or sex cell
, modifications.
Genotype
The genotype is the genetic makeup of a cell, an organism, or an individual usually with reference to a specific character under consideration...
has been artificially selected
Artificial selection
Artificial selection describes intentional breeding for certain traits, or combination of traits. The term was utilized by Charles Darwin in contrast to natural selection, in which the differential reproduction of organisms with certain traits is attributed to improved survival or reproductive...
by genetic engineering
Human genetic engineering
Human genetic engineering is the alteration of an individual's genotype with the aim of choosing the phenotype of a newborn or changing the existing phenotype of a child or adult....
combined with in vitro fertilisation
In vitro fertilisation
In vitro fertilisation is a process by which egg cells are fertilised by sperm outside the body: in vitro. IVF is a major treatment in infertility when other methods of assisted reproductive technology have failed...
to ensure the presence or absence of particular gene
Gene
A gene is a molecular unit of heredity of a living organism. It is a name given to some stretches of DNA and RNA that code for a type of protein or for an RNA chain that has a function in the organism. Living beings depend on genes, as they specify all proteins and functional RNA chains...
s or characteristics. The term is derived by comparison with "designer clothing
Designer clothing
Designer clothing is clothing that bears the logo of a recognizable fashion designer.The 'designer' whose name is on the label may be:* A European couturier, e.g. Chanel, Christian Dior* A European luxury goods house, e.g. Armani, Gucci, Louis Vuitton...
". It implies the ultimate commodification
Commodification
Commodification is the transformation of goods, ideas, or other entities that may not normally be regarded as goods into a commodity....
of children and is therefore usually used pejoratively to signal opposition to such use of reprogenetics
Reprogenetics
Reprogenetics is a term referring to the merging of reproductive and genetic technologies expected to happen in the near future as techniques like germinal choice technology become more available and more powerful. The term was coined by Lee M...
.
Ethics
The technical capacity to heritably modify the biology of mammalMammal
Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...
s, available since the 1980s
1980s
File:1980s decade montage.png|thumb|400px|From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, Columbia, lifted off in 1981; American President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eased tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the end of the Cold War; The Fall of the Berlin Wall in...
, has led to proposals to apply such methods to the biological improvement of humans
Eugenics
Eugenics is the "applied science or the bio-social movement which advocates the use of practices aimed at improving the genetic composition of a population", usually referring to human populations. The origins of the concept of eugenics began with certain interpretations of Mendelian inheritance,...
. The term "designer baby," originally used pejoratively, has gained currency as a relatively neutral shorthand for such manipulations, which, as far as the public record is concerned, have yet to be implemented. Supporters of designer baby technology include liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
technophiles
Technophilia
Technophilia refers generally to a strong enthusiasm for technology, especially new technologies such as personal computers, the Internet, mobile phones and home cinema...
, libertarians
Libertarianism
Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
, and transhumanists
Transhumanism
Transhumanism, often abbreviated as H+ or h+, is an international intellectual and cultural movement that affirms the possibility and desirability of fundamentally transforming the human condition by developing and making widely available technologies to eliminate aging and to greatly enhance human...
, who variously believe in a moral
Moral
A moral is a message conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event. The moral may be left to the hearer, reader or viewer to determine for themselves, or may be explicitly encapsulated in a maxim...
imperative to improve society by improving the health
Health
Health is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person's mind, body and spirit, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain...
, intelligence
Intelligence
Intelligence has been defined in different ways, including the abilities for abstract thought, understanding, communication, reasoning, learning, planning, emotional intelligence and problem solving....
or physical capability of individuals, or in the right of individuals over the disposition of their own bodies and those of their unborn children. Opponents of the prospect of designer babies include those who object to experimentation on human embryo
Embryo
An embryo is a multicellular diploid eukaryote in its earliest stage of development, from the time of first cell division until birth, hatching, or germination...
s, either because they reject abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
, which would be an inevitable consequence of some designer baby attempts, or because they oppose experimentation on humans in the absence of informed consent
Informed consent
Informed consent is a phrase often used in law to indicate that the consent a person gives meets certain minimum standards. As a literal matter, in the absence of fraud, it is redundant. An informed consent can be said to have been given based upon a clear appreciation and understanding of the...
. Some have projected a dystopia
Dystopia
A dystopia is the idea of a society in a repressive and controlled state, often under the guise of being utopian, as characterized in books like Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four...
in which a race of superior humans
Übermensch
The Übermensch is a concept in the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche. Nietzsche posited the Übermensch as a goal for humanity to set for itself in his 1883 book Thus Spoke Zarathustra ....
look down on those without genetic enhancements, though others have counselled accepting this vision of the future. If genetic manipulation could successfully prevent diseases and disabilities, some have anticipated that discrimination against those with disabilities would greatly rise. It has also been suggested that genetic engineering could have deleterious effects on the human gene pool.
Genetic modification is widely believed to be capable of altering the full range of biological traits, from gender to susceptibility to disease
Disease
A disease is an abnormal condition affecting the body of an organism. It is often construed to be a medical condition associated with specific symptoms and signs. It may be caused by external factors, such as infectious disease, or it may be caused by internal dysfunctions, such as autoimmune...
, and eventually appearance, personality, and even IQ. Such broad claims
Genetic determinism
Genetic determinism is the belief that genes determine morphological and behavioral traits and do so with little or no influence from environmental factors....
for the efficacy of genetic manipulation have been disputed, however. Nonetheless, the perceived desirability of genetic modification technology has led to controversies concerning the price of such procedures and its ability to create a gap in society. Altering embryos is fairly recent technology and as it develops is a very costly procedure. With only the wealthy being able to pay for the modification that will eliminate disease for their children and eventually choose to treat people with disabilities or diseases and those used to enhance healthy people
Human enhancement
Human enhancement refers to any attempt to temporarily or permanently overcome the current limitations of the human body through natural or artificial means...
. They are particularly wary of this technology’s ability to lead to a new eugenics where individuals are "bred" or designed to suit social preferences such as above average height, certain hair color, increased intelligence, or greater memory. Not only is the prospect of future generations of "better people" a metaphysical concern, but apprehension also arises from the possibility that such groups of people might become prejudiced against one another due to a feeling of lost common humanity with non-enhanced or differently-enhanced groups. Within journalistic coverage of the issue, as well as within the analysis of bioconservative critics, the issue of safety takes a secondary role to that of humanity, because it is thought that the ethical issue of safety can eventually be resolved by innovation and so should not be focused on due to its fallibility. The so-called Frankenstein argument asserts that genetically engineering designer babies would compel us to think of each other as products or devices rather than human individuals.
The genetic modification of humans can pose an ethical debate about the rights of the baby. One side of this issue is that the fetus should be free to not be genetically modified. Once the genetic modification of the fetus takes place then the baby is changed forever, there is no chance that the genetic modification completed prior to birth could ever be reversed. The opposing view to this is that the parents are the ones with the rights to their unborn child, so they should be able to have the option to alter their genetic code.
Despite the pejorative nature of the term "designer baby", a minority of bioethicists consider the notion of a designer baby, once the reprogenetic technology is shown to be safe, to be a responsible and justifiable application of parental procreative liberty
Reproductive rights
Reproductive rights are legal rights and freedoms relating to reproduction and reproductive health. The World Health Organization defines reproductive rights as follows:...
. The usage of genetic engineering (amongst other techniques) on one's children is said to be defensible as procreative beneficence
Procreative beneficence
Procreative beneficence is the moral obligation of parents to have the healthiest children through all natural and artificial means available.The term was coined by Julian Savulescu, a professor of applied ethics at St Cross College in Oxford.-See also:...
, the moral obligation of parents to try to give their children the healthiest, happiest lives possible. Some futurists claim that it would put the human species on a path to participant evolution
Participant evolution
Participant evolution is a process of deliberately redesigning the human body and brain using technological means, rather than through the natural processes of mutation and natural selection, with the goal of removing "biological limitations." The idea of participant evolution was first put...
.
Cost
One round of in vitro fertilization (IVF) typically costs around 9,000 USD. Preimplantation genetic diagnosisPreimplantation genetic diagnosis
In medicine and genetics pre-implantation genetic diagnosis refers to procedures that are performed on embryos prior to implantation, sometimes even on oocytes prior to fertilization. PGD is considered another way to prenatal diagnosis...
(PGD) adds another $4,000 to $7,500 to the cost of each IVF attempt. A standard round of IVF results in a successful pregnancy only 10-35% of the time (depending on the age and health of the woman), and a woman may need to undergo subsequent attempts to achieve a viable pregnancy. As a result, a successful pregnancy is very costly – and cost-prohibitive – for most women.
Biological risks
There is a wide variety of biological risks associated with genetic modifications. There may be irreversible genes that get passed from generation to generation with germline treatment/enhancement. New diseases may be introduced, although we can’t predict what they may be until they appear. It is commonly known that the gene for sickle cell anemia confers resistance to malaria. This involves an instance called pleiotropyPleiotropy
Pleiotropy occurs when one gene influences multiple phenotypic traits. Consequently, a mutation in a pleiotropic gene may have an effect on some or all traits simultaneously...
. If we completely eradicate sickle cell anemia, then more people could possibly die due to contracting malaria. This sheds a little light onto how complex the genome actually is. While inserting a gene to serve one purpose, we may cause other traits to be expressed that could be harmful to us. The repercussions of using seemingly harmless technologies that have not been adequately tested could be detrimental to us all.
Genome sequencing
In the near future, there may be devices in each laboratory and doctor’s office that can sequence anyone’s entire genomeGenome
In modern molecular biology and genetics, the genome is the entirety of an organism's hereditary information. It is encoded either in DNA or, for many types of virus, in RNA. The genome includes both the genes and the non-coding sequences of the DNA/RNA....
. At the cost of $1,000, people can use this to determine their chances of disease or the origin of their non-disease-related traits, as well as discover patterns in DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
sequences and understand the complexities of specific traits.
Viral injection
Gene implantation using viruses starts with a non-virulent virus being injected with a specific gene that the scientist wants to be expressed. Usually, another gene is attached to the desired one that can help determine if the cells took up the gene. This other gene may code for the resistance to an antibiotic or produce a fluorescentFluorescence
Fluorescence is the emission of light by a substance that has absorbed light or other electromagnetic radiation of a different wavelength. It is a form of luminescence. In most cases, emitted light has a longer wavelength, and therefore lower energy, than the absorbed radiation...
color. Once the virus is implanted into the embryos, those cells are cultured. After a few cycles of mitosis
Mitosis
Mitosis is the process by which a eukaryotic cell separates the chromosomes in its cell nucleus into two identical sets, in two separate nuclei. It is generally followed immediately by cytokinesis, which divides the nuclei, cytoplasm, organelles and cell membrane into two cells containing roughly...
, the cells that survive a dose of antibiotic
Antibiotic
An antibacterial is a compound or substance that kills or slows down the growth of bacteria.The term is often used synonymously with the term antibiotic; today, however, with increased knowledge of the causative agents of various infectious diseases, antibiotic has come to denote a broader range of...
treatment or that are fluorescent are then transferred into the uterus. A test of the reliability of viral vectors was done in 2000 at Necker Hospital. Ten children who had a rare disease of X-SCID, a hereditary immunodeficiency disease
Immune disorder
An immune disorder is a dysfunction of the immune system. These disorders can be characterized in several different ways:* By the component of the immune system affected* By whether the immune system is overactive or underactive...
similar to AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
, were involved in the trial. After taking blood samples and infusing them with harmless retroviruses carrying the gene to correct the initial gene that was causing their illness, the blood was transfused back into the ten children. Because of the misplacement of the gene, three of the children developed leukemia. Therefore, the problem with viral injection is misinsertion. Viral DNA places itself anywhere on any chromosome, which can lead to problems with the functioning of other genes, otherwise known as insertional mutagenesis
Insertional mutagenesis
Insertional mutagenesis is mutagenesis of DNA by the insertion of one or more bases.Insertional mutations can occur naturally, mediated by virus or transposon, or can be artificially created for research purposes in the lab.- Signature tagged mutagenesis :...
. However, nine of the ten were cured of the initial disease, so viral injection is still a plausible technology to be used for a "designer baby."
Homologous recombination
One of the more promising techniques of proper gene insertion is homologous recombinationHomologous recombination
Homologous recombination is a type of genetic recombination in which nucleotide sequences are exchanged between two similar or identical molecules of DNA. It is most widely used by cells to accurately repair harmful breaks that occur on both strands of DNA, known as double-strand breaks...
. This process of identifying, cutting out, and replacing a misspelled sequence of DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
letters occurs naturally in the cell. While homologous recombination
Homologous recombination
Homologous recombination is a type of genetic recombination in which nucleotide sequences are exchanged between two similar or identical molecules of DNA. It is most widely used by cells to accurately repair harmful breaks that occur on both strands of DNA, known as double-strand breaks...
avoids the problem of insertional mutagenesis
Insertional mutagenesis
Insertional mutagenesis is mutagenesis of DNA by the insertion of one or more bases.Insertional mutations can occur naturally, mediated by virus or transposon, or can be artificially created for research purposes in the lab.- Signature tagged mutagenesis :...
, it is very inefficient, producing only about one out of a million cells that have actually taken up the new gene sequence.
Human artificial chromosome
Another possibility is the use of human artificial chromosomeHuman artificial chromosome
A human artificial chromosome is a microchromosome that can act as a new chromosome in a population of human cells. That is, instead of 46 chromosomes, the cell could have 47 with the 47th being very small, roughly 6-10 megabases in size, and able to carry new genes introduced by human researchers...
s, or HACs. This would involve adding a completely new chromosome to the forty-six others that we already have. The benefits are that the new genes on the HACs would not disrupt the existing genes on the other chromosomes and scientists would be able to create promoter regions that could be used to turn the gene on and off. There are critical flaws in this method, though, including the fact that usually extra chromosome
Chromosome
A chromosome is an organized structure of DNA and protein found in cells. It is a single piece of coiled DNA containing many genes, regulatory elements and other nucleotide sequences. Chromosomes also contain DNA-bound proteins, which serve to package the DNA and control its functions.Chromosomes...
s have been linked to diseases. Also, in order to pass along genes to offspring, there must be a matching chromosome from the other partner, so at least right away these HACs may not be particularly useful for germline, or sex cell
Germ cell
A germ cell is any biological cell that gives rise to the gametes of an organism that reproduces sexually. In many animals, the germ cells originate near the gut of an embryo and migrate to the developing gonads. There, they undergo cell division of two types, mitosis and meiosis, followed by...
, modifications.
See also
- Eugenics in the United States
- GattacaGattacaGattaca is a 1997 science fiction film written and directed by Andrew Niccol. It stars Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman and Jude Law with supporting roles played by Loren Dean, Ernest Borgnine, Gore Vidal and Alan Arkin....
- Genetically modified organismGenetically modified organismA genetically modified organism or genetically engineered organism is an organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. These techniques, generally known as recombinant DNA technology, use DNA molecules from different sources, which are combined into one...
- Gundam Seed
External links
- Bonsor, Kevin. Howstuffworks: How Designer Children Will Work
- Strongin, Laurie Saving Henry, a non-fiction account of Strongin's pioneering use of IVF and PGD to have a healthy child whose cord blood could save the life of her son Henry