Designer babies are currently prevented by law in Canada, but not so in the rest of the world

Imagine, you are ten years old, and you have spent most of your life in a hospital bed. Doctors are constantly poking and prodding at you, taking your blood, harvesting stem cells, and taking sections of your organs. You are completely oblivious to the concept of school, birthday parties, and sports, unlike most children your age. Your parents always tell you how proud they are of you for helping your older sister, who is twelve years old and also frequently in the hospital. You don’t know how you're such a great help, except for the fact that you give your sister parts of you to help her feel better. The thing you don’t know is that you were genetically modified as an embryo to have a blood type compatible to your sister’s; you are a designer baby.

I am a highschool student, and one of your classmates who has put many hours into researching and understanding the information related to this topic in order to present you with the facts you must know about designer babies. The concept of designer babies was once a figment of imagination, that could have been used as a topic for a comic strip, but not anymore. This former concept is now a terrifying reality in many countries. There may be benefits to genetically modifying embryos, but the consequences of this technology are far greater than the assets.

The objective of designer babies is extremely unethical, but sadly, is legal in many countries. Fortunately, it is illegal in Canada thanks to the Assisted Human Reproduction Act (AHR Act), which became law in Canada in March of 2004. There are many different rules involving the subject of assisted reproduction included in this act but the one most relevant to my subject is that cloning and therapeutic cloning are both highly illegal. Cloning is creating a genetically identical copy of an already existing organism, whereas therapeutic cloning involves a clone, but instead of being genetically identical, the genes of this embryo are altered to prevent disease or disability, or to create stem cells that would have the ability to cure diseases in either the clone itself, or another human being. Countries such as the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom do not permit cloning, but therapeutic cloning is allowed. In more general terms,therapeutic cloning is also known as designer babies. The Government of Canada states in the Assisted Human Reproduction Act (AHR Act) that “ any person found guilty of breaking the law can face fines of up to $500,000, or a jail sentence of up to 10 years, or both.”

The countries that approved genetically modifying embryos need to re-evaluate their morals, and create a law to protect future generations from having their genes altered against their will; similar to the one we have in Canada. It is important to have severe consequences for the people that go against this act so that they learn how unethical this process is. Even though genetically modifying embryos can have some benefits, such as preventing genetic conditions, there are many more problems that this will create which will be more substantial to society than the few advantages.

Therapeutic cloning is a very controversial subject, but there are many problems with designer babies that affect the baby themselves, and the society of future generations. A Pew Research survey conducted in August of 2015 found that forty six percent of adults approved of genetic modification of babies to reduce the risk of serious diseases, but the same survey showed that eighty three percent of people said that using this advancement to make babies smarter was “taking things too far”. This shows that more people are on board with the idea of using this for the health of the child, but are against abusing the technology to fulfill the unnecessary, selfish desires of parents. Designer babies are extremely dangerous due to our lack of knowledge about the process, and because there are many complications that can arise in the lab which would leave the embryo with more severe health problems than the ones that the parents were initially attempting to avoid. Gang Bao, PhD, professor of bioengineering at Rice University in Houston, and director of the Nanomedicine Center for Nucleoprotein Machines stated in an interview in April of 2015 that “the nanoscissors can also cut other genes in a somewhat unpredictable fashion. This could change the function of a gene responsible for keeping a cell from becoming cancerous, for example, or causing other diseases. Until we know the full consequences of gene editing, it would be a huge mistake to use it to modify the geneline”. This type of advanced technology is extremely expensive, and if it becomes popular, it would create an even bigger gap between the upper and lower classes, which could ruin the economy. This concept may seem like an advancement right now, but if we continue with this, and all parents go to a lab and tell the technician all the specific qualities they want their child to have, then 100 or even 200 years in the future, there will be limited diversity, which can be an issue when the future generation wants to have children, due to the fact that many of their genes will be extremely similar.

Hopefully, you will never be able to specify every characteristic you want your child to have, with the guarantee that they will be born exactly the way you want them to be. Having a child will always be a gamble, and you should always be aware of any consequences that may come with naturally conceiving a child. We have to learn that individuality is important, and to accept each child for who they are, without trying to alter their genes.

Designer babies come with many ethical issues that are more significant than the benefits. The process of genetically engineering the ideal embryo can cause many issues to the child itself, and the society that it lives in. I thank you for your time and attentiveness. In the years to come, if you decide to start a family and if this technology is available to you, I hope you remember my presentation and choose not to build your child in a lab. Put yourself in their position, how would you like to be almost identical to your peers, or be the “parts-child” that lives in a hospital and is oblivious to the outside world?