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Designer babies - genetically modified for beauty, intelligence or to be free of disease - have long been a topic of science fiction. Rapid progress in genetics is making "designer babies" more likely and society needs to be prepared. A designer baby is a baby that is the result of genetic screening or genetic modification. Embryos may be screened prior to implantation, or possibly gene therapy techniques could be used to create desired traits in a child.
Definition: The colloquial term "designer baby" refers to a baby whose genetic makeup has been artificially selected by genetic engineering combined with in vitro fertilization to ensure the presence or absence of particular genes or characteristics. In simpler terms, using biotechnology to choose what type of baby you want. Latest research is making designer babies a reality now, using technology developed originally for use in animals.
Three-parent baby-a step towards designer babies: Three-parent babies are human offspring with three genetic parents, created through a specialized form of In vitro fertilisation in which the future baby's mitochondrial DNA comes from a third party. The procedure is intended to prevent mitochondrial diseases including muscular dystrophy and some heart and liver conditions. It is the subject of considerable controversy in the field of bioethics. The world’s first three-parent baby has been born in Mexico with the help a controversial new fertility technique that incorporates DNA from three people, and is reported to be healthy at five months of age.
Pros Although there are many questions of if genetically modifying babies is ethical and for the moral reason, there are many positives to this type of treatment:
Cons The process of creating a “designer baby” is often questioned because of its shaky moral platform. Though there are certainly some positive things that can be obtained from the use of genetic engineering used on unborn babies, but it is often wondered if parents will have the “right” reasons to genetically modify their baby, or if reasoning will become more superficial. Some of the cons associated with the genetic engineering of babies:
It has also been suggested that if designer babies were created through genetic engineering, that this could have deleterious effects on the human gene pool. There are risks associated with genetic modifications to any organism. New diseases may be introduced accidentally. Safety is a major concern when it comes to the gene editing and mitochondrial transfer. Problems with the gene editing may not appear until after the child with edited genes is born.
Where should India draw the line on gene editing? A response is necessary, because the tools to modify human embryos are becoming simpler, more accurate, and widely available around the world. With burgeoning biotechnological capabilities, scientists in India could potentially perform experiments similar to the ones performed in China, or other experiments that might lead to gene editing in human embryos. In 2001, as described in the British Medical Journal, a national bio ethics panel in India said that scientists may harvest human embryos for re search before day 14 of gestation with the in formed consent of the donor. All projects would have to be approved by the national bio ethics panel, and researchers would have to share any commercial benefits that emerge from embryonic stem cell lines with the donor.
The Indian Council for Medical Research, and other bio ethics panels in the country are performing an admirable task of re-evaluating these guidelines in the light of new gene editing technologies. But this needs to be a national and public conversation. What moral precepts should guide us as we think about changing the genetic material of our children? Where does our culture, or history, force us to draw strong lines? The context is especially important, because the desire for genetic intervention exists in this country. In parts of India, crude technologies of genetic diagnosis through amniocentesis (and other methods) have reportedly resulted in the selective abortion of female fetus. The impact of genetic diagnosis remains unclear, but the overall skew in the gender ratio in parts of India is striking: about 850 females to every 1,000 males in Punjab and Haryana. The shift towards male children in these states may underscore a more general aspiration to use interventions -genetic or otherwise -to produce more "desirable" children.
Guiding principles for the future First, genetic interventions should only be used to alleviate extraordinary suffering -that is, their role should be restricted to diseases that devastate human beings. Second: these interventions should be used on genes that are clearly implicated in diseases, and not genes where the link to the illness is weak or speculative (and certainly not used to tamper with genes that purportedly influence height or intelligence, about which we know very little). And third, and most important: the interventions should not be carried out without state mandate or state supervision.
These principles might be imagined as a "safe triangle" within which genetic interventions on humans may still be performed -while the Indian public considers future policies in this arena. Until a time that a consensus is reached, Indian scientists might also wish to join the proposed international moratorium on gene editing on human embryos.
By: Dr. Vivek Rana ProfileResourcesReport error
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