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Fertility clinic to offer custom-designed babies

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17 Comments
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The people who can afford this can afford to go to Germany, Thailand or even New York City to get this done. Might as well keep them at home.

I heard that a clinic in California is preparing to do the same thing in a month or so. < :-)

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What happens if they eyes are brown and not blue? Lawsuit? Do the parents feel differently about the child? Have we really talked about this enough before people start going through with it?

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It's a free market attempt to assist young parents.

Sign a disclaimer. Simple.

How long should people talk about it? Maybe plenty of people have talked about this enough. They are ready to try it. < :-)

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This bothers me on more than one level... I know that it is tempting to use this kind of technology to eliminate genetic diseases, malformations, and the like, but even that makes me nervous. I don't think that as a society we are ready for certain things. Genetic engineering is a powerful tool... can we say that we have considered all of the consequences of its use?

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Dysprosium317,

Does it bother you because you hate people who can afford the procedure?

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Critics, though, have blasted the idea of designer babies, likening it to the pursuit of a master race.

I have to object to the term "master race". Producing better people does not mean they need to be the masters.

I had heard there was a program in Nazi Germany where people were selected/ admitted into a breeding program. My understanding is that it was voluntary, and the selection criteria rigorous. I heard the offspring became some pretty impressive people as people go, but I can't recall any of them becoming anyone's master, or so much as a successful politician.

Better genes will give one an edge, and that is about it. It guarantees no success in any field. So the only problem I see is people being so focused on appearance with this that we wind up producing a race of beautiful dumb people.

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Dangit, I just wanna let my small boys and the missus' small girls do the work for us. Why do they gotta start fixing the lotto system, huh?

I wonder if we'll start getting genetic mutations or some other freaky stuff. Not really good to start messing with this stuff... have Hollywood films taught you nothing?!?! xD

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This bothers me on more than one level... I know that it is tempting to use this kind of technology to eliminate genetic diseases, malformations, and the like, but even that makes me nervous.

What happens if there's a way to predict homosexuality? The parents might not want to deal with a gay child and justify their decision on the grounds "gays will never be fully accepted, we're sparing our child a marginalized life." It's easier to be beautiful then average looking too; but people of average looks (along with gays) can be highly productive members of society. It takes all kinds.....

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What happens if there's a way to predict homosexuality?

There isn't.

None of this is going to have a huge impact on the human race until something like 15 percent of all people in the world do it anyway. By the time the tech gets to be that common, all the ins and outs will be known, and we won't need to pour over unfounded questions like if there is a homosexuality gene.

Waiver: I am not saying there are no genes that might be associated with a higher incidence of homosexuality, or related things, such as heightened or lowered hormone production. I am just saying that there is no hard and fast homo gene or genes, and that DNA cannot be used to eliminate homosexuality.

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So the only problem I see is people being so focused on appearance with this that we wind up producing a race of beautiful dumb people.

I should not have used the word "race" here. It is a silly concept. I should have said "group of beautiful dumb people."

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not a happy news story. at least the kids will grow up and might have a mixed marriage, ruining the parents aims of a master race. ha-haa

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None of this is going to have a huge impact on the human race until something like 15 percent of all people in the world do it anyway" What is a government or large organization takes this on?

This has always been inevitable, but I feel uneasy about it at the moment. I love the idea of being able to rid malfunctions and sicknesses but just as much as we play with the environment's food chain, I feel a bad effect coming on with this.

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I had heard there was a program in Nazi Germany where people were selected/ admitted into a breeding program.

I've heard a little about this program. They had 4 classes of Germans. Type I Germans were only supposed to breed with Type I Germans. Type 4's were allowed to marry gypsies, etc. They also exported the program to Nordic countries they occupied during the war. Heaven help you if you were a child in Norway borne to a German "Aryan" father, your life was pretty much ruined. Most Nordics, by the way, are quite narrow minded. That is probably why the anti-immigration movement isn't as strong in the Nordic countries as it is in states like France, Switzerland or Austria.

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The whole thing just makes me sick!

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Superlib makes some good points.

Personally I don't really care what other people do - as long as it is safe andproperly regulated.

For once I'd have to be on the side of the flat-earthers on this one - messing with nature doesn't appeal to me too much.

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This is the science-fiction that some of us saw in movies and flicks from our past. We're moving into the future that we watched and visualized in our youth. < :-)

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70x4060d,

Does it bother you because you hate people who can afford the procedure?

If you read what I posted, you would see that it bothers me because of a personal opinion that Genetic engineering is a powerful tool which our society has not considered all the consequences of using. It has absolutely nothing to do with who can or can't afford it. Furthermore, I wouldn't hate someone just because they could afford something I couldn't. That is silly.

My opinions stem from a career dedicated to medicine in which I have frequently seen both sides of this debate both from a scientific and a non-scientific standpoint.

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