This document discusses the pros and cons of designer babies. It begins by explaining genetic principles like dominance, co-dominance, and how parental alleles combine in offspring. It then discusses the Human Genome Project and some of the ethical issues around genetic information. Several scientists provide opinions on both sides of the designer baby debate. The document concludes that designer babies could be acceptable to reduce genetic disorders or allow infertile couples to have children, but should not be used for non-medical reasons as it removes child autonomy and diversity.

1. Designer BabiesBy: Laura McKenna and Cameron SatinPd. 9

2. Basic Principles of GeneticsHow are traits controlled by dominant and recessive alleles?Dominant alleles traits always show up in an organism where an allele is present and recessive alleles are masked or covered up when a dominant allele is present for that trait. How are traits controlled with co-dominance? In co-dominance, the alleles are neither dominant nor recessive. As a result, neither allele is masked in the offspring. Both traits will show.Explain how the alleles of two parents combine to express traits in offspring. A way to find how the alleles of two parents combine to express traits in offspring is by using a punnet square. In a punnet square, the capital letters represent dominant alleles and the lower case letters represent recessive alleles. Only two recessive alleles together will show up in an organism. And two dominant allele traits together and one dominant allele with one recessive allele will also result in the trait of a dominant allele.

3. Human Genome Project1) The project started in the October of 1990 and was completed in 2003. It ended two years earlier than was expected. Some of the goals from the beginning were…Indentify all the approximately 20,000-25,000 genes in human DNADetermine the sequences of the three billion chemical base pairs that make up human DNAStore this information in data basesImprove tools for data analysisTransfer related technologies to the private sectoraddress the ethical, legal, and social issues (ELSI) that may arise from the project2.1) Social-Reproductive Issues including adequate informed consent for complex and potentially controversial procedure, use of genetic information in reproductive decision making and reproductive rights “Do healthcare personnel properly counsel parents about the risks and limitations of genetic technology?”2.2) Ethical-Fairness in the use of genetic information by employers, courts, schools, adoption agencies, and military among others “ Who should have access to personal genetic information and how will it be used?”2.3) Legal-Privacy and Confidentiality of genetic information “Who owns and controls genetic information?”3) G.I.N.A. doesn’t let U.S. Insurance companies and employers deny clients because of information on genetic tests to be made public. Before the Human Genome Project, we had no laws of privacy to genetic information. This basically means that people with a gene for cancer will not be denied from insurance companies.

4. Genetic Disorders Compare and contrast the three different types of genetic disorders:1.single gene disorder2.chromosome abnormalities3.multifactorial disorders Single cell disorders are caused by a mutant allele of a single gene, for example, sickle cell disease. Chromosome abnormalities occur when a chromosome is missing or has an extra chromosome. For example, Down Syndrome- when a child is born with 47 chromosomes rather than 46 chromosomes. And multifactorial disorders are caused by mutations in multiple genes that may interact with environmental factors. For example, heart disease. 2) How can genetic counseling help prospective parents who have a genetic disorder regarding future children? Genetic counseling is the process by which patients or relatives at risk of an inherited disorder are advised of the consequences and nature of the disorder and the probability of transmitting it or developing it. Genetic counseling can be helpful because the parents can be tested if they are capable of transmitting the disorder to their future children and if the option for having children is safe for them. How are karyotypes used to predict genetic disorders? Karyotypes are the appearance of the chromosomal makeup of a somatic cell in an individual or species. People who are born with an abnormal number of chromosomes often have genetic disorders because their cells contain too much or too little genetic information. Scientists can predict these disorders by looking for extra or missing chromosomes in the karyotype of the parents. For instance, if people are looking to have future children, they can have their karyotypes tested to see if they are carriers for genetic diseases and if they are capable of transmitting it to their offspring.

6. Con #1 The whole concept of designer babies is on the same line that Adolf Hitler was going down-the idea to create a race where all people are perfect; tall, blonde, blue-eyed people. A problem with this is that our society will soon have a complete lack of diversity. It would be like cloning humans, everyone would be the same. Backed up by scientist Nicholas Agar.

7. Con #2 It is not ethical to “create” a baby with enhanced physical appearance and ability. With the ability to have a choice of how tall, smart, or beautiful the baby will look like, you can chose whether your child is a genius at chess or will have blue eyes instead of the supposed-to-be brown eyes. You are altering the uniqueness that your child would have had. Also, none of the child’s traits that they were given are received through heredity, or traits from the mother, father and pedigree history. Backed up by scientist Stephen S. Fong.

8. Con #3 Parents having the choice to choose for the children, like if they should have an athletic ability takes away from the child’s freedom of choice. Maybe the child wants to do chess club, but they were genetically engineered to have the ability to excel at sports. The parents may feel that they are giving their child an advantage but they are just using genetic engineering to make themselves happy about how perfect their child will be.Backed up by scientist Yin Ren.

9. Con #4 The price to make a designer baby is very expensive. It averages about $18,000 just to create one embryo. That proves that this option is not for everyone, only people that are from a higher social class or the rich and wealthy. Backed up by scientist Stephen S. Fong.

10. Pro #1 Some scientists use this technology to reduce the chance of a child being born with a genetic disorder. These techniques include InVitro Fertilization which is when they pick the type of sperm to fertilize an egg- they can determine the genes and sex of the baby. This type of fertilization takes place outside the body in a laboratory. There is also another technique where they can screen embryos before implanted into the mother’s womb. Backed up by scientist Yin Ren.

11. Pro #2 Designer babies is an option for parents that have certain disorders that would like to have future children. If they have already went to genetic counseling, and their karyotypes prove that they are capable of transmitting the disorder onto their child, then they can alter the embryo’s genetic makeup so that it can be born healthy and disease-free. Backed up by scientist Kerby Anderson.

12. Pro #3 Some parents are unfortunate when they have children. Some of their children are born with diseases like cancer and anemia and the only way for these children to have donors to survive is for the parents to genetically engineer another baby. This baby is a perfect match by blood type and stem cells to the sick child. If everything goes right, the sick child will have a donor and will hopefully survive because of the genetically engineered baby. Backed up by Gale Cengage Learning- Ellen Goodman.

13. Pro #4 Another pro is that parents can choose what gender their child will be. Let’s say they have two boys and want to have a girl. Genetically engineering the embryo will give them the option of what sex the baby will be, reducing the unwanted surprise and leveling out the ratio from boy to girl. Backed up by scientist Yin Ren.

14. Conclusion We are for and against designer babies for many reasons. We feel that designing babies should be allowed only for the purpose of saving another child or if a couple can’t physically have babies due to a genetic issue. We are also somewhat for this because it can decrease the risk of the baby being born with a genetic disorder. We are against designer babies because babies should not be used for materialistic reasons. Babies are what they are and they should be loved no matter how they look or how smart they are. We are also against this topic because this process takes away from the child’s freedom of choice in life about what their interests or talents will be.

16. Works Cited"Ethical, Legal, and Social Issues --Genome Research." Oak Ridge National Laboratory. US Department of Energy: Offices of Sciences, 16 Sept. 2008. Web. 21 Mar. 2011. <http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/elsi.shtml>.Goodman, Ellen. "Custom Newspaper Product Logout." GaleNet. Albany Times Union, 10 Oct. 2000. Web. 23 Mar. 2011. <http://find.galegroup.com/gtx/retrieve.do?contentSet=IAC-Documents&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&qrySerId=Locale(en,,):FQE=(KE,None,15)designer babies$&sgHitCountType=None&inPS=true&sort=DateDescend&searchType=BasicSearchForm&tabID=T004&prodId=SPN.SP01&searchId=R1¤tPosition=6&userGroupName=nysl_se_tap&docId=CJ157374224&docType=IAC>."Human and Animal Biotechnology." Definition of Issues and Links to Other Sources. Web. 19 Mar. 2011. <http://filebox.vt.edu/cals/cses/chagedor/Biotechnology.html>.Johnson, Priya. "Pros and Cons of Designer Babies." Buzzle Web Portal: Intelligent Life on the Web. Buzzle.com. Web. 21 Mar. 2011. <http://www.buzzle.com/articles/pros-and-cons-of-designer-babies.html>.Panse, Sonal. "Designer Babies." Buzzle Web Portal: Intelligent Life on the Web. 2000-2011. Web. 23 Mar. 2011. <http://www.buzzle.com/articles/designer-babies.html>.Ren, Yin. "Designer Babies: The Pros and Cons of Genetic Engineering." Www.web.mit.edu. MURJ, Spring 2005. Web. 21 Mar. 2011. <http://web.mit.edu/murj/www/v12/v12-Features/v12-f4.pdf>."Using Karyotypes to Predict Genetic Disorders." Learn.Genetics™. Univeristy of Utah, 2011. Web. 21 Mar. 2011. <http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/begin/traits/predictdisorder/>."What Is a Designer Baby?" Bionet - New Discoveries in Life Sciences - Explore the Science and Debate the Issues. Bionet, 2002. Web. 21 Mar. 2011. <http://www.bionetonline.org/english/content/db_cont1.htm>.

17. Primary Sources CitationsAgar, Nicholas. "Designer Babies: Ethical Considerations (ActionBioscience).” ActionBioscience - Promoting Bioscience Literacy. American Institute of Biological Sciences, 2000-2001. Web. 21 Mar. 2011. <http:// www.actionbioscience.org/biotech/agar.html>. Anderson, Kerby. "Genetic Engineering." Leadership University. Probe Ministries, 14 July 2002. Web. 23 Mar. 2011. <http:// www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/gen-engr.html>.Ren, Yin. "Designer Babies: The Pros and Cons of Genetic Engineering." Www.web.mit.edu. MURJ, Spring 2005. Web. 21 Mar. 2011. <http:// web.mit.edu/murj/www/v12/v12-Features/v12-f4.pdf>.Stephen FongAssistant Professor, Chemical and Life Science Engineering Fellow, Center for the Study of Biological ComplexityVirginia Commonwealth University 601 W. Main Street, Room 422 P.O. Box 843028 Richmond, VA 23284-3028 Phone: (804)827-7038 Fax: (804)828-3846 Website: http://www.systemsbiology.vcu.edu

18. With couples infertile to have children, genetically engineering babies becomes an option.

19. Women these days are having babies later in life and the older they are, the higher the risk is of their baby being born with a genetic disorder like Down Syndrome. The need for genetically engineering your baby comes into play here if you want to have a healthy baby even at an older age.