The topic of your lesson this week is Biotechnology and Genomics . A designer baby is a human embryo which has been genetically modified, usually following guidelines set by the parent or scientist, to produce desirable traits. This is done using various methods, such as germline engineering or pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) . This technology is the subject of ethical debate, bringing up the concept of genetically modified "superhumans" to interbreed with and eventually replace modern humans. Creating genetically modified children is no longer a science fiction fantasy, it's likely a future scenario. Biologist Paul Knoepfler estimates that within fifteen years, scientists could use the gene editing technology CRISPR to make certain 'upgrades' to human embryos-from altering appearances to eliminating the risk of auto-immune diseases. Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis has the ability to select an embryo based on gender preferences. Since changing a gender is not needed, but desired this could cause much controversy. Additionally, the procedure is able to create a donor offspring or a “savior sibling”, which can assist a pre-existing offspring for medical purposes. PGD can help select for desirable traits by avoiding implanting embryos with genes that have serious diseases or disabilities. Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) typing is used to match patients and donors for bone marrow or cord blood transplants. HLA are proteins, or markers, found on most cells of your body. Your immune system uses these markers to recognize which cells belong in your body and which do not. It's a donor whose HLA are very closely matched to the recipients. The best donors for HLA are siblings. Siblings are more closely matched than non siblings. In vitro fertilization (IVF) is an assisted reproductive technology (ART) commonly referred to as IVF. IVF is the process of fertilization by extracting eggs, retrieving a sperm sample, and then manually combining an egg and sperm in a laboratory dish. The embryo(s) is then transferred to the uterus. The first designer baby in the United States was Adam Nash was from Colorado in 1990. In 1989 Adam Nash was conceived to save his 6 year old sister Molly, who was dying from an extremely rare genetic disease called Fanconi anemia . This rare bone marrow failure disease is passed down through families as an autosomal recessive disease. It results in decreased production of all types of red blood cells. Molly was unable to find a bone marrow match for a transplant. Through IVF, HLA Typing, and PGD, the Nash family had Adam. He had the stem cells in his umbilical cord that would save her life. Molly is now 23 years old. The Nash family went on to have a third, healthy child through IVF, again selecting an embryo without the Fanconi gene. The book My Sister's Keeper (2009) was written by Jodi Picoult and loosely based on the Nash family. It is now a movie starring Cameron Diaz and Abigail Breslin. Britain's fi.

1. The topic of your lesson this week is
Biotechnology and Genomics
. A
designer baby
is a human embryo which has been genetically modified,
usually following guidelines set by the parent or scientist, to
produce desirable traits. This is done using various methods,
such as germline engineering or
pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD)
. This technology is the subject of ethical debate, bringing up
the concept of genetically modified "superhumans" to interbreed
with and eventually replace modern humans.
Creating genetically modified children is no longer a science
fiction fantasy, it's likely a future scenario. Biologist Paul
Knoepfler estimates that within fifteen years, scientists could
use the gene editing technology CRISPR to make certain
'upgrades' to human embryos-from altering appearances to
eliminating the risk of auto-immune diseases.
Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis
has the ability to select an embryo based on gender
preferences. Since changing a gender is not needed, but desired
this could cause much controversy. Additionally, the procedure
is able to create a donor offspring or a “savior sibling”, which
can assist a pre-existing offspring for medical purposes. PGD
can help select for desirable traits by avoiding implanting
embryos with genes that have serious diseases or disabilities.
Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) typing
is used to match patients and donors for bone marrow or cord
blood transplants. HLA are proteins, or markers, found on most
cells of your body. Your immune system uses these markers to

2. recognize which cells belong in your body and which do not.
It's a donor whose HLA are very closely matched to the
recipients. The best donors for HLA are siblings. Siblings are
more closely matched than non siblings.
In vitro fertilization (IVF)
is an assisted reproductive technology (ART) commonly
referred to as IVF. IVF is the process of fertilization by
extracting eggs, retrieving a sperm sample, and then manually
combining an egg and sperm in a laboratory dish. The
embryo(s) is then transferred to the uterus.
The first designer baby in the United States was Adam Nash
was from Colorado in 1990. In 1989 Adam Nash was conceived
to save his 6 year old sister Molly, who was dying from an
extremely rare genetic disease called
Fanconi anemia
. This rare bone marrow failure disease is passed down through
families as an autosomal recessive disease. It results in
decreased production of all types of red blood cells. Molly was
unable to find a bone marrow match for a transplant. Through
IVF, HLA Typing, and PGD, the Nash family had Adam. He had
the stem cells in his umbilical cord that would save her life.
Molly is now 23 years old. The Nash family went on to have a
third, healthy child through IVF, again selecting an embryo
without the Fanconi gene. The book
My Sister's Keeper (2009)
was written by Jodi Picoult and loosely based on the Nash
family. It is now a movie starring Cameron Diaz and Abigail
Breslin.
Britain's first designer baby was Jodie, born in 2005. Her older
brother Joshua had a rare, incurable bone marrow disease called
Diamond Blackfin Anemia
.

3. Take it one step further...In 2018 in China, genetics researcher
He Jiankui at the Southern University of Science and
Technology used a DNA editing technique called
CRISPR-Cas9
on human embryos to create twin girls with a modification to
reduce the rick of HIV infection. His team performed "gene
surgery" on embryos created from their parents' sperm and eggs
to protect the children from the human immunodeficiency virus
which causes AIDS. The father is HIV positive.
For this discussion board:
Watch the video
TED Talks The ethical dilemma of designer babies - Paul
Knoepfler
Watch the video
A Moral Dilemma: Saviour Sibling or Spare Part Baby?
Read
CRISPR-Cas9
and Watch
CRISPR Basics
From the information given in the videos and the reading,
answer each question below in numbered paragraphs
1. In the TEDTalk, Paul Knoepfler talked about two
hypothetical kids, Jenna and Maryann. Describe what he said
were the differences between a "natural' kid and a "GM' kid.

4. 2. Describe what kind of risks/issues, good and bad, can be seen
with these "GM" kids?
3. Explain how
CRISPR-Cas9
is used to create GM kids.
4. Is it wrong to produce designer babies, tested to ensure the
absence of harmful genes, to be tissue donors for sick siblings?
Share your thoughts.
5. Read your classmate's posts and respond to one student
whose thoughts about designer babies used to treat sick siblings
was different from yours.
It will be necessary for you to find sources to get information
on your stories. Remember to always give credit or cite your
source information. This should be written in your own words.
You show understanding of the topic when you can summarize
it without using the same phrases or word choice as the original
sites or videos. Changing a few words in a sentence is still
plagiarism. The link below is a good tutorial about avoiding
plagiarism in your writing.
https://library.tccd.edu/resources/tutorials/plagiarism/index.php
Cite your sources using APA style. The website below has
information to help you cite your source(s) correctly.
https://library.purdueglobal.edu/writingcenter/citationguides
Hover over "Citation Guides" to choose the correct type of
source.
Below is another resource regarding APA style from the TCC

5. Library.
https://library.tccd.edu/academic_support/citations
Choose reliable sources like those found using the article
database from the TCC library (
Today's Science
and
Science in Context by Gale
are great), information from universities, and governmental
websites (https://www.choosemyplate.gov
https://www.usda.gov/topics/food-and-nutrition) Wikipedia and
personal websites/blogs are not good sources.
Grading criteria (Please see Grading Rubric for more detailed
criteria):
10 points - grammar and source information, numbered
paragraphs
8 points - described the differences between a 'natural' kid and a
"GM' kid.
8 points - described risks/issues for "GM" kids
8 points - explained how CRISPR-Cas9 is used to make "GM"
kids
8 points - gave thoughts on designer babies being used to treat
sick siblings
8 points - read your classmate's posts and responded to thoughts
different from yours about designer babies used to treat sick
siblings

6. 0