Designer Babies

"Designer Babies", (or "designer children") are children whose genetic traits are chosen by their parents; whether through screening or active genetic modification.

There are different approaches to the subject. Designer babies may be created to ensure that a child inherits certain traits. Parents may choose to have a child with a certain eye colour, or, a certain stature. Screening can also be done for other traits, such as intelligence.

Some dismiss the practice of choosing a child's physical appearance and intelligence as shallow. Still, they may argue that if one of the parents carries a gene for a certain disorder, the parents should be able to opt to have a healthy baby, without any disorders.

Some wish to create designer babies for medical purposes. If a child is in need of bone marrow, and a donor cannot be found, the parents may opt to design a baby that is genetically compatible with the sick child.

Scanning for genetic disorders seems like a good idea. Designing babies who don't immediately pass away after birth due to morbid genetic conditions would save parents much grief. Parents may become pickier as societal standards change, however. They could start screening for genes linked to less debilitating disorders, such as ADHD. This practice could also be considered discriminatory against people who lead a successful life despite their disability, such as those who are deaf.

Ensuring the birth of healthy children is not so bad compared to what else can be achieved, however. If parents were given the choice of eye colour, athletic ability, and intelligence, would this serve to discriminate against those who are not athletic, intelligent, and beautiful? Nobody is perfect; people are born with a wide variety of genetic traits. With parents being able to choose the characteristics of their children, there may be increasing pressure to have unnaturally 'perfect' children.

I think that we can't really know if creating designer babies is entirely a bad thing yet. So long as the children are being treated well (especially those created to help another child), should we be concerned? More advanced trait selection technology (i.e. for cosmetic purposes) will likely not become available for a while, by which time people may already be modifying their appearance in other ways (e.g.: cosmetic surgery). Also, at the moment, scientists are unable to implant new genes; they can only screen embryos for certain traits. The child's traits still need to be inherited from the parents.

If this technology can save lives by preventing people from having harmful disorders, it is not a completely bad thing. Vaccines were a controversial technology at the time of their introduction, but they have now rendered many diseases obsolete.

Ultimately, so long as no harm is being done, and we're careful about it, creating designer babies shouldn't be too much of a problem. Eventually, measures may need to be taken to regulate designer babies, but for now, I think that the only way to find out is to wait and see.

Blogs I commented on:

http://itsalive-conn.blogspot.com/2010/11/designer-babies.html?showComment=1289833027140#c3298430410593535763

http://adorablogs.blogspot.com/2010/10/ideal-babyit-could-be-yours.html?showComment=1289833950094#c8800805274980121336

Works Cited:

Bonsor, Kevin, and Julia Layton. "How Designer Children Work." HowStuffWorks.com. 10 May 2001. Web. 13 Nov. 2010. <http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/life/genetic/designer-children.htm>.

Keim, Brandon. "Designer Babies: A Right to Choose?" Wired News. 9 Mar. 2009. Web. 13 Nov. 2010. <http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/03/designerdebate/>.

Lemonick, Michael D., David Bjerklie, Alice Park, and Dick Thompson. "Designer Babies." Time.com. 11 Jan. 1999. Web. 13 Nov. 2010. <http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,989987,00.html>.

Pollack, Gladys. "Designer Babies." Reader's Digest Magazine Canada Online. Web. 13 Nov. 2010. <http://www.readersdigest.ca/mag/2001/09/designer_babies.html>.

"The Need to Regulate "Designer Babies"" Scientific American. 4 May 2009. Web. 13 Nov. 2010. <http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=regulate-designer-babies>.

"Will screening for birth defects lead to 'designer babies'?" Canada.com. 5 Oct. 2005. Web. 13 Nov. 2010. <http://www.canada.com/topics/lifestyle/parenting/story.html?id=af85fffa-81df-4c47-b389-d7eefc2faccf&k=7781>.

Primate Protection in Bioko

According to the United Nations, 2010 is the International Year of Biodiversity.

Biodiversity—a word often thrown around by environmentalists—is the variety of life on Earth. Preserving it is important, but human influence is often associated with having a negative impact on biodiversity.

Still, there are several organizations making an effort to change that. The Bioko Biodiversity Protection Program aims to restore the rich biodiversity of Bioko, an island in Equatorial Guinea, off the west coast of Africa. The program's main focus is on the island's critically endangered primates and nesting sea turtles.

Seven species of primate are being protected: the Bioko drill, the black colobus, the Pennant's red colobus, the red-eared Guenon, the crowned guenon, the Preuss's monkey, and the greater spot-nosed monkey.

The survival of these species was in jeopardy primarily due to hunting. Wild game, known locally as bushmeat, is a delicacy, and can fetch high prices on the market.

The state of the primates is very delicate. Some of the critically endangered species, such as the black colobus and the Pennant's red colobus, do not exist in captivity.

To ensure the protection of the species, the Bioko Biodiversity Protection Program, or BBPP, contracts teams of locals to serve on forest or beach patrol to deter hunting. The program also conducts annual expeditions to the Gran Caladera de Luba, where a census of primates and sea turtles is conducted. BBPP conducts an ongoing analysis of the bushmeat market to gauge attitudes towards bushmeat, and it sponsors awareness campaigns to stem its demand. Finally, the program has also held environmental awareness meetings, which took place in the villages of Baney, Batoicopa, Riaba, and Luba.

Fortunately, the program has been successful. Thanks to the BBPP, the government of Equatorial Guinea decided to ban the hunting and consumption of primates entirely, an important step forward in preserving the biodiversity of Bioko.

Image: The red-eared Guenon, or red-eared monkey, an endangered species found in Bioko. (Source: National Geographic

Sources:

"2010 International Year of Biodiversity." Convention on Biological Diversity. Web. 30 Sept. 2010. <http://www.cbd.int/2010/welcome/>.

Bioko Biodiversity Protection Program. Web. 30 Sept. 2010. <http://www.bioko.org/index.php>.

"Definition of Biodiversity." Saskatchewan Eco Network. Web. 30 Sept. 2010. <http://www.econet.sk.ca/issues/biodiversity/definition.html>.

Morell, Virginia. "Bioko Primates." National Geographic Magazine. Aug. 2008. Web. 30 Sept. 2010. <http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/08/bioko-primates/morell-text>.

Blogs I commented on:

http://biomeggs.blogspot.com/2010/09/human-intervention-is-bad-and-good.html?showComment=1285881251213#c1112704056860233809

http://jamie-bioblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/arctic-is-on-thin-ice.html#comment-3591924584466364573