The question is: Are designer babies a choice or a consequence?
Last week we discussed the unspoken truth of editing human genes, and while as we think we are moving forwards in terms of changing organisms and our way of life, the unfortunate reality is the mistaken opposite. Reducing the gene pool and natural evolution are changing our survival traits and certain characteristics that we have adapted over centuries to survive. So really, artificially changing them isn’t as good as we thought…
Imagine if you were able to choose the hair colour, appearance, strength, intelligence, and health of your child, and secure the “perfect” design of your baby. What if science could guarantee these traits before a baby is even born? Because of advances in gene editing technologies, they have made it possible to imagine a world where parents don’t have to pray for the health of their children but get to choose it. Surely this sounds too good to be true. And you know when things sound too good to be true, there is always a catch or a consequence paralleling the promise. So, what hidden costs might come with the so-called “perfect child?”
The first question is obvious: What is defined as perfect? Every parent wishes for different characteristics, whether that be height, athleticism or being academically gifted. Another might wish for talent in music or being physically attractive. Yet “perfection” is subjective, is shaped by culture, and social media. With new technology attempting to “design” children, may result in us losing what’s important and valued in each other – therefore reducing our individuality to a shopping cart of desirable traits.
Genetic diversity is what makes humanity so special. The advantages include making populations more resilient to disease and allows for a wide range of different minds with different perspectives and talents. If all parents decide to pick the same traits as each other, we risk a genetic monoculture. Just the same as monoculture farming, resulting in making crops more fragile to changed conditions, by being the same as everyone else will not allow for variation and inhibit growth and development. The value of having a certain skill or interest will be reduced and will not have the same significance as before as everyone else would have similar strengths and weaknesses. Is it worth having the so-called “perfect” child if in the end, perfection won’t have the same meaning or value as before.
The price of inequality could deepen the gap between rich and poor. Families who can afford genetic enhancements may give their children huge advantages: better health, sharper intellect, greater stamina. Those without access to these “improvements” could be left behind, creating g a society divided by not only wealth but also even biology. The term “genetic class divide” could become a chilling reality.
But the biggest cost of all that can’t be measured in science are what it means to be human. Our struggles, imperfections and differences are all what make us who we are, and real. History is full of people who turned hardship into creativity, resilience, or empathy. If we edit away every challenge, will we also erase the traits that make us compassionate, thought provoking, and unique?
Instead of trying to engineer perfection, perhaps our real task is to learn how to value the children we already have, in all their unpredictable and extraordinary variety.
