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Designing Life: Should Babies Be Genetically Engineered?

An Vu, Tom Badrick, Jeanie Partlow, Chelsea Pyper, Lidia Murzea. Designing Life: Should Babies Be Genetically Engineered?. Introduction. Did you know that?. Can you Imagine?. What can be altered?. Examples include: H eight , eye color Risk of colon cancer or heart disease

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Designing Life: Should Babies Be Genetically Engineered?

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  1. An Vu, Tom Badrick, Jeanie Partlow, Chelsea Pyper, Lidia Murzea Designing Life:Should Babies Be Genetically Engineered?

  2. Introduction • Did you know that?....

  3. Can you Imagine?

  4. What can be altered? • Examples include: • Height, eye color • Risk of colon cancer or heart disease • Athleticism • Amount of health care costs their sons or daughters could expect to ring up over • their lifetimes.

  5. A Case of Medical Ethics To be considered “Ethical” must respect all four principles Many argue for and against

  6. "Alpha children wear gray. They work much harder than we do, because they're so frightfully clever. I'm awfully glad I'm a Beta, because I don't work so hard. And then we are much better than the Gammas and Deltas. Gammas are stupid. They all wear green, and Delta children wear khaki. Oh no, I don't want to play with Delta children. And Epsilons are still worse. They're too stupid to be able to read or write. Besides they wear black, which is a beastly color. I'm so glad I'm a Beta.” - Aldous Huxley

  7. What is Genetic Engineering? The science of making changes to the genes of a plant or animal to produce a desired result

  8. Pre-Implementation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) • Procedures performed on embryos or oocytes prior to implantation • Adjunct to assisted reproductive technology, only used with IVF(in vitro fertilization) • Used to screen for specific genetic disease • Avoids selective pregnancy termination

  9. PGD (continued) • Currently a microchip can screen for 1,500 genetic traits at once • PGD looks for: • Recessive sex-linked disorders (neuromuscular dystrophies) • Dominant sex-linked disorders (Rett’s syndrome) • Single gene disorders (Huntington disease “Advances in medicine move ahead of the ethical controversies that may be the storm that follows. These are obviously unchartered waters.” - Glassner “Genetically engineering ‘ethical’ babies is our moral obligation.” -Oxford Professor

  10. Prevention of illness and disease What if you could modify an embryo with gene replacements? Eliminate cancer Eliminate heart disease Eliminate Diabetes

  11. Prevention of illness and disease What if you could prevent ADD/ADHD Autism Eyesight and Hearing loss

  12. We Can Prevent Genetic Disorders Imagine a family situation with a first child that was born with autism, or down syndrome, or cystic fibrosis… This family may have opted in the past to not take the chance on having additional children… With designer babies they now have a choice: • Screening for disease bearing genes, preventing diseases such as autism, downs syndrome, cystic fibrosis • Stopping the familial cycle of inheritable disease such as diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, obesity • This new technology can ensure a healthy next generation

  13. Promote “selection” of positive traits

  14. But wait, thats not all What if instead of prevent, you enhanced Better muscle growth with our steroids Stronger bones Enhanced vision Enhanced hearing Ability to process nutrition better

  15. Promote Better Traits… Germline modification :Genes in the early embryos are changed. The genes modified in this way are inheritable.This is an effective form of genetic engineering, as it results in permanent modifications Positive Genetic Engineering...positive traits are enhanced (Longevity, intelligence, stamina) Negative Genetic Engineering...introduces the good copy of a genetic gene, the suffering characteristic to genetic diseases can be reduced Putting the Child First...

  16. Design Saves Lives • Savior Child ~ selection of positive traits • Desired and loved for the unique self she is • Wanted for value to family unit • Saves older child with disease • Not harmed as umbilical stem cells are harvested

  17. Principles of Medical Ethics • Respect for Autonomy - right of parent to choose genetic engineering as responsible parenting • Beneficence - responsibility to do good by negative genetic engineering, shutting down disease-bearing genes • Nonmaleficence - responsibility to do no harm, genetic engineering removes disease and suffering • Distributive Justice - appropriate use of scarce resources to remove disease and suffering

  18. Ethical Implications Are these technologies truly safe? -many genes have multiple effects We are essentially performing human experimentation without consent

  19. Social Class Divisions Economical divisions transition into genetic divisions Increased Vulnerable Populations What message are we sending children with these conditions?

  20. Designer Babies or Mutants? Let’s say someone manages to create the perfect baby, but what is going to happen to those genes once that baby begins to copulate? No one has thought of the implication of a designer baby eventually having a non-designer pregnancy The results could be monstrous . . .

  21. Genes are unpredictable . . .

  22. Genes have more than one use Genes control various aspects of our personality and appearance. A gene aimed at improving intelligence may also alter anger management, so you have created a very smart and uncontrollably angry person

  23. The unknown factor Less than 75% of the human genome has been mapped The results that people seek will not be what they expect.

  24. Lets Have a Vote

  25. Conclusion • “It depends” • Improved Quality of life? Versus Unknown Implications • What are you personally willing to risk for perfection?

  26. References McGee, G. (1997). The perfect baby: a pragmatic approach to genetics. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Merriam webster. (2013). Merriam webster dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/genetic engineering Oak, M. (2013). Human Genetic Engineering. Buzzle. Retrieved October 14, 2013, from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/human-genetic-engineering.html Should there be designer babies? | Debate.ortg. (2013). The Premier Online Debate Website |Debate.org. Retrieved October 14, 2013, from http://www.debate.org/opinions/should-there-be-designer-babies • Sifferlin, A. (2013, Oct 3). Company patents first designer baby maker. now what?.  • Times, Retrieved from http://healthland.time.com/2013/10/03/company-patents-first- designer-baby-maker-now-what/

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