Genetic Engineering.

Not only is that ridiculous but it could also turn into another holocaust. Think about it, what would the Neo-Nazis do with this technology? Breed "aryans" and try to control what people's kids look like?

I don't think it's really an issue we should be worried about now any way. The world has enough problems to deal with. But it has potential, there are plenty of weirdos out there....

For medical purposes (preventing disease before birth), I think it'd be brilliant. But the idea "designer babies" just scares me... I mean, choosing what your children look like? Its a waste of money and it promotes a very shallow view on life. And, if it became a common occurance, it puts those that don't want it (or can't afford it) in a very vulnerable position. Rich people would be more (conventionally) beautiful than the poor, so it would promote a social division as well.

I don't really know if I'm for or against genetic engineering. I'm against it because, if we mess around with people's genes, they might unexpectantly mutate and might result in serious diseases.

But I must admit that the advantages are ......WOW!!:
-we could prevent children from inheriting illnesses, like heart and lung conditions
-genes could be added to improve health characteristics or disease resistance
-we could eliminate alcohol/drugs addiction and tendencies toward mental diseases or antisocial behaviour like extreme aggresion
-if another living creature already has a particular attribute, we could work out its genetic basis and eventually make it available to humans. Consequently, we people might have the sense of smell of dogs or could "see" objects in the darkness through a biological sonar system like the bats have
-it might be possible to identify the genetic information which allows creatures to live under extreme conditions on Earth, like the bacteria that live in the hot water around volcanic vents on the ocean floor, far from light and free oxygen
-we might be able to use photosynthetis in order to get energy, which means we could, one day, live on other planets of the solar system without needing oxigen

One of the greatest succeses of genetics is being able to identify the DNA part that codifies insulin from a bacteria, genetically reprogramme it in order to produce insulin in the human body and then transfer it to humans. For those of you who don't know, if your body doesn't produce insulin, you get diabetes. So genetic engineering has already saved many lives.

its compleyely wrong. how would you feel if you grew up to be a beautiful person full of selfconfindence, and one day your parents tell you that you were made to look the way you do? its not natural, and its wrong.

i support it only for medical purposes. but if you want to program what your child looks like, thats just shallow

r o c k s t a r:

Um, would testing the fetus for inherited diseases be considered genetic engineering?
Like when they test a fetus for certain diseases, and if it's found to be positive for anything, they destroy it?
Or am I thinking of something completley different?

Yep, it's genetic engineering....in fact, this is one of the tehniques geneticians are currently working on. Genetic engineering means everyting that has to do with manipulating human or animal genes, no matter for what purpouse.

I think it's okay for medical reasons, like to stop kids being born with life-threatening diseases, but just so that your child looks "perfect"? That's just so vain and shallow it's beyond belief. Anyway, what if the child decides when older that he/she wants surgery, or to dye their hair? Surely then the parents made their "perfect" child in vain?

I think I should one thing clear: the whole "make your baby perfect before it's born: is just a PERSPECTIVE. Genetics still has a long way to go before it becomes a possibility.
And when that happens, I doubt there will be many parents who will want to make experiments on their kids. Nothing is ever 100% sure in genetics, so I think you'd have to be a pretty irresponsable parent to risk having a child with physical or mental illnesses in an attempt to make it look perfect.

I think it should be used to prevent diseases.
But for cosmetic reasons: no.
If we mess around with genetics though, who knows what could happen. Would the human race ever evolve again?

gia:

One of the greatest succeses of genetics is being able to identify the DNA part that codifies insulin from a bacteria, genetically reprogramme it in order to produce insulin in the human body and then transfer it to humans. For those of you who don't know, if your body doesn't produce insulin, you get diabetes. So genetic engineering has already saved many lives.

I'm a juvinile diabetic and i wish that it was around when I was...conceived, because Ive had to put up for this for 12(i got it when i was 2) years and its not the greatest thing that couldve happened. But when people use it to screw around with the way kids look its horrible, you should be happy with the way your children look like.

Most companies like to make lots of money and they like to make it fast. Some don't care much who or what gets trampled on in the process. That's why I'm frightened about GE in the hands of some of the companies that do it. If they could, they'd really like to make sure everyone everywhere is eating food made from GE plants so that they make more money. For all we know it could have horrible side affects later on in life. So I don't think genetically engineered food is a good idea.

If they find a way to prevent diseases such as Diebetes ( My brother has type 1) or Autism I think they should do it, but if they start doing it for looks I think it could go wrong. They cut the gene from somewhere else, say a blonde gene from somewhere, they have to just randomly put it somewhere in the thing they are creating so it may distroy another part of the genes. Yes, you'll have a blonde child, but why would you risk them being paralized or not being able to speak for vanity?

if you were gonna genetically modify your child then thats just sick and wrong unless you can actually be sure that it will help with a sickness not to make your child gorgeous, a sportstar or whatever!

If you genetically modified your children it would be more like not having your own child but someone else perfect child.

Think about if everyone was perfect the world would be so boring. Everyone has our quirks and possible defects but don't ruin our individuality with the engineering only do it for healthh related purposes.

I'm against that. I agree with the person who created this thread. Some people(parents) are ungrateful with their children, which they should.

i think it is okay for medical purposes but not for cosmetic.
i agree that you should love your child no matter what they look like. cosmetic genetic engineering could easily promote discrimination. as well as racism what about sexism? genetic engineering could easily increase the situation incountries like China and parts of India where there is a severe gap between the numbers of boys and girls. if you could chose the sex of your child [which has been a development that is being discussed] wouldn't this only icrease this sitaution? i think it is unethical.

just for interest's sake: the first human embryo has already been cloned-if you were interested. that was in 2001.
so what next? i think it is kinda scary to think about.

Is technology(sp?) to blame?

I'm writing a book about that (fiction) and it's the obsession of my boyfriend and I, which meant that I felt...conflicted...when I had to study it in school. At first, I was completely deaf to whatever benefits it might have because my mind kept thinking about it producing people who would take over the world. By the end of the course I had concluded that it's, theoretically a good idea but it's been applied with negligence. GM crops are one of the reasons why there was a drop in the bee population this summer for example. In terms of morality, I think it's okay on plants but not on animals or people.

Diana_a7x:

Is technology(sp?) to blame?

technology can lead us open to adavancements that compromise our morals. but i think it is not entirely to blame. we can chose not to enter into such developments. but yes technology does provide more opportunities for abuse. i think.