EugenicsMoral or Immoral

• Jayashrita Debnath• G Pardha Preetham

T

What exactly is a designer baby ?

A baby whose genetic makeup has

been artificially selected by genetic

engineering to ensure the

presence or absence of desired

genes or characteristics.

What is IVF?

Technology as in now

• Baby potential against genetic diseases

• Determination and selection of Sex of baby

• Change in Visible traits ( eye, hair, skin, etc )

• Increasing life expectancy of the baby.

• The price for each baby is $18,000

Debates

Is it justified

• To use embryo selection technique to avoid disease and disability in our children

• To positively want to have a child with disability

• To determine sex of future child

• Effect on social personal and cultural consequences

Something from the Past !

• As seen in the case of guinea pigs various traits were seen in future generations which were totally unprecedented and unwarranted.

• The eldest child so far born by the embryo selection technique is still a teenager ( 17 years ). Too early to comment on the future of the “altered” human.

• People fear the use of eugenics will be used to promote certain phenotypic traits which classify themselves as superior .

• The NAZIs killed fully grown up individuals to fulfil the saying “SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST”. Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) disregards “unfit” embryos and chooses what they consider “best”.

Important Data

Our Views

Embryo selection technique

• With the current amount of research done in the field of human genome we do not have sufficient information about pleiotropy

• Our attempts to tamper with the genes responsible for various diseases or phenotypic traits can lead to unforeseen circumstances affecting future generation

• Numerous embryos are discarded for one successful implantation. It is not ethical to kill potential human beings in such a fashion given that the society also considers abortion unethical.

Child with disability

• Disable parents want there child to be disabled like them

• The child may not want to live a challenged life like their parents.

• Preventing a child from leading the life of their choice is violation of child rights

• An embryo cannot voice its choice hence we cannot gift it disability

Determine sex of future child

• Nature has its own laws to determine the balance in the society tampering with it can lead to unbalanced society.

• The most ethical use of determination of gender of future child is to stop propagation of sex selective diseases in the embryo.

• The use of sex selection is more abused then used in today’s society.

• But even In such a case its better to go for adoption of a child then to have a selfish demand of having an own child.

Personal, Social and Cultural consequences

• Allowing parents to select the phenotypic traits of the future child will lead to a future generation having people more of a certain phenotype than the other

• Only the rich parents are able to access the benefits of eugenics . The present situation where the poor already have lesser life expectancy than the rich will be further intensified.

• Already in a society where there is peer pressure to use creams or surgery to enhance a certain type of physical feature this demand and psychological impact on them will be detrimental.

• Commoditization of human beings.

Conclusion on Designer Babies

• Although there are some benefits in creating a designer baby we believe that the risks are much greater than the possible positive outcomes that might take place.

• Even though altering your child’s genes could save someone else’s life it can also leave your child with harmful virus’s diseases and mutations.

• Other then physically damaging your child you could also hurt them emotionally by making them feel that they are obligated to perform according to the ability that they were created for.

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