Designer Babies.....ugh, this is scary.

_______________________

Travel quote of the week: "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." -Mark Twain

_______________________

Travel quote of the week: "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." -Mark Twain

_______________________________ "Women are either goddesses or doormats." Pablo Picasso "In all matters of opinion, our adversaries are insane." Mark Twain

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Engaged: 7/18/09!
Elopement: 9/25/10, our 7th anniversary!

* Being happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect. It means that you've decided to look past the imperfections *

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"I cannot live without books." - Thomas Jefferson

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"...we should note this curious mark of our own age: the only absolute allowed is the absolute insistence that there is no absolute."-Francis Schaeffer

_______________________

Travel quote of the week: "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." -Mark Twain

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That's Mrs. Hudson_Hawk to you... Over and out.

********************************
Engaged: 7/18/09!
Elopement: 9/25/10, our 7th anniversary!

* Being happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect. It means that you've decided to look past the imperfections *

********************************
Engaged: 7/18/09!
Elopement: 9/25/10, our 7th anniversary!

* Being happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect. It means that you've decided to look past the imperfections *

**********************

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"...we should note this curious mark of our own age: the only absolute allowed is the absolute insistence that there is no absolute."-Francis Schaeffer

That's Mrs. Hudson_Hawk to you... Over and out.

****MARRIED!!****

That's Mrs. Hudson_Hawk to you... Over and out.

**** April 3, 2009 ***

Date: 3/4/2009 10:15:38 AM
Author: jsm
This is a pretty tough subject, but I don't see this happening on a huge level.


1) Even if the method were perfected, they are either a) selecting for traits by sifting through a number of different embryos, or b) altering genes in the early embryo, neither of which will really guarantee anything. So many genetic changes occur during development; who is to say those genes for blonde hair won't be silenced during embryogenesis? Mutations can occur spontaneously. Hell, even during life! I had dark hair my first 4 years of life, blond the next ten, then it got darker again. Environmental factors, weather, food intake, nutrients, all will alter phenotypes. There are NO guarantees.


2) Yes, IVF is required, and is going to be a VERY expensive procedure. I'm going to guess that most people are still going to conceive the old fashioned way.


Scientists do a great deal of genetic manipulation for a lot of animals. Assuming you aren't messing with essential genes, in most cases mice, C. elegans, drosophila, sheep, etc, life normal lifespans. It hasn't been done in humans but who is to say there won't be consequences there no one anticipated? Unlikely, but possible. Humans are complicated but do not by any means have the most complicated genetics or the largest numbers of genes. I think screening for debilitating diseases may a great way to get some harmful and deadly genes out of the population.


But, like so many things, just because we CAN doesn't mean we should. It's a very slippery slope.


I'm not someone who has a problem expressing genes from one organism in another (I've done it, actually). It's all just amino acids coding proteins. But something doesn't sit right with me when you want to select blue eyes or dark hair. It doesn't seem right.

********************************
Engaged: 7/18/09!
Elopement: 9/25/10, our 7th anniversary!

* Being happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect. It means that you've decided to look past the imperfections *

********
"...we should note this curious mark of our own age: the only absolute allowed is the absolute insistence that there is no absolute."-Francis Schaeffer

"I like smiling. Smiling's my favorite!" Will Ferrell ~ Elf

Date: 3/4/2009 11:02:47 AM
Author: trillionaire

Date: 3/4/2009 10:15:38 AM

Author: jsm

This is a pretty tough subject, but I don't see this happening on a huge level.



1) Even if the method were perfected, they are either a) selecting for traits by sifting through a number of different embryos, or b) altering genes in the early embryo, neither of which will really guarantee anything. So many genetic changes occur during development; who is to say those genes for blonde hair won't be silenced during embryogenesis? Mutations can occur spontaneously. Hell, even during life! I had dark hair my first 4 years of life, blond the next ten, then it got darker again. Environmental factors, weather, food intake, nutrients, all will alter phenotypes. There are NO guarantees.



2) Yes, IVF is required, and is going to be a VERY expensive procedure. I'm going to guess that most people are still going to conceive the old fashioned way.



Scientists do a great deal of genetic manipulation for a lot of animals. Assuming you aren't messing with essential genes, in most cases mice, C. elegans, drosophila, sheep, etc, life normal lifespans. It hasn't been done in humans but who is to say there won't be consequences there no one anticipated? Unlikely, but possible. Humans are complicated but do not by any means have the most complicated genetics or the largest numbers of genes. I think screening for debilitating diseases may a great way to get some harmful and deadly genes out of the population.



But, like so many things, just because we CAN doesn't mean we should. It's a very slippery slope.



I'm not someone who has a problem expressing genes from one organism in another (I've done it, actually). It's all just amino acids coding proteins. But something doesn't sit right with me when you want to select blue eyes or dark hair. It doesn't seem right.

It is interesting that you bring up the expense of the procedure. While I agree that this will probably never be a huge portion of the population who can afford to do these types of procedures, it can play out like a class divide. Those with the most money would be the 'healthiest', by self selecting out of disease and disability, and could potentially be selected for distinguishable phenotypic traits. (ugh, are we back at eugenics???) I see this being less of an issue of what people look like, per se, but perhaps an emergent class stigma to certain diseases and disabilities?


And what if we weren't determining eye color, what if the design concept was to short circuit genes that lead to tendencies for mood disorders, psychoses or obesity? What are we okay with? And what are we saying to communities of affected people when their unique character traits are being willfully expunged from the gene pool?

That's Mrs. Hudson_Hawk to you... Over and out.

********************************
Engaged: 7/18/09!
Elopement: 9/25/10, our 7th anniversary!

* Being happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect. It means that you've decided to look past the imperfections *