[Carlhole]

SH

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he Fertility Institutes recently stunned the fertility community by being the first company to boldly offer couples the opportunity to screen their embryos not only for diseases and gender, but also for completely benign characteristics such as eye color, hair color, and complexion. The Fertility Institutes proudly claims this is just the tip of the iceberg, and plans to offer almost any conceivable customization as science makes them available. Even as couples from across the globe are flocking in droves to pay the company their life’s savings for a custom baby, opponents are vilifying the company for shattering moral and ethical boundaries. Like it or not, the era of designer babies is officially here and there is no going back.

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', 'W')hy do you post this crap Carlhole? You know it's only going to prompt derision that will make you angry, and cause high blood pressure (remember that the silent killer has no symptoms ). You will then discover first hand the singularity does not exist (and even if it did, it would not give a sh#t about you.) and certainly will not be able to cure you.

[Outcast_Searcher]

What surprises me (though, I guess it shouldn't) is what the priorities seem to be.

I would think things like good health, and perhaps intelligence would be paramount. Yet things like height and hair color typically seem to be at the forefront of people's thoughts in this area.

....

Then again, our socety is so irrational that the vast majority of folks believe in supernatural beings despite a complete lack of evidence, yet the vast majority of that same crowd become incensed at the mention of the possibility that human cryogenics might someday be possible.

[Keith_McClary]

Lots of good Google Images of Designer Babies

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Outcast_Searcher', 'W')hat surprises me (though, I guess it shouldn't) is what the priorities seem to be.

I would think things like good health, and perhaps intelligence would be paramount. Yet things like height and hair color typically seem to be at the forefront of people's thoughts in this area.

[dinopello]

The Blasian designer baby was all the rage, but what's hot in babies today ? I don't keep up with these things !

[Dreamtwister]

Doesn't this movie end with the hero going into space with his stolen genome and the original owner incinerating himself?

[dinopello]

I want a George Carlin baby !

[Carlhole]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dinopello', '[')url=http://rentec.wordpress.com/2008/02/28/new-hot-trend-designer-blasian-babies/]The Blasian designer baby was all the rage[/url], but what's hot in babies today ? I don't keep up with these things !

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Carlhole', 'B')ut, sooner or later, people will be able to take genetic sequences that do not appear in their own genomic types and insert them. So if I like Venus Williams legs and Julio Elesias' voice, well, why not?

[Carlhole]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Sixstrings', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Carlhole', 'B')ut, sooner or later, people will be able to take genetic sequences that do not appear in their own genomic types and insert them. So if I like Venus Williams legs and Julio Elesias' voice, well, why not?

[Carlhole]

Nature's genetic game is: He/She who is fittest and most sexually attractive will reproduce most successfully on average. Those who are NOT fit to the environment and who are NOT attractive, will probably not reproduce. This is how Nature maintains gene pool health.

And the actual lives of those who are not well-fitted to their environment because of some genetic flaw? Nature don't GAF - you gotta live your life out despite all that inherited hell. And some genetic flaws can really make Life tough or painful or demoralizing. There is nothing good about genetic flaws. Nature's way of weeding them out is not a prescription for happy living.

Much better to have control over that whole process. Eliminate all that suffering if possible.

[Carlhole]

I'm observing the strong demand for designer babies and seeing that everyone else has some ideal that they don't mind imposing upon their unborn children - whether that is an Aryan conceptualization or some other thing. The demand is there for choice. What will be the predominant choices that people will make for their children? -Those things that they (the parents) wish to be themselves.

If they could choose, how many parents would want dumbass, butt-ugly children with expensive genetic medical conditions?

The breeding of domestic animals has proven that people will actively seek out desired genes and separate them from undesired as much as possible. When it becomes easy to do in a clinic (as opposed to thousands of years of selection), then of course, it will happen. The demand for it is strong and has been with us since time immemorial.

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Carlhole', 'T')here is nothing good about genetic flaws. Nature's way of weeding them out is not a prescription for happy living.

Much better to have control over that whole process. Eliminate all that suffering if possible.

[Carlhole]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Sixstrings', 'T')his is short-circuiting evolution, removing nature as the arbiter of what counts as success.

[EnergyUnlimited]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Carlhole', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Sixstrings', 'T')his is short-circuiting evolution, removing nature as the arbiter of what counts as success.

[ian807]

Evolution enhanced by money. This will obviously favor the wealthy. If you could guarantee that your child was a genius for $10,000, or $50,000, you would do it. Eventually, the price comes down, but it will always cost something.

And so we speciate, just as we have since chimps, gorillas and homo sapiens all went their separate ways. It's life. The results will be mixed, and there will be winners and losers, but it's inevitable. If we were to ban genetic manipulation in the USA, all other countries would immediately start cranking out genius superwarriors, which would simply hasten our demise. Competition never goes away.

So, you can winge or you can deal. I suggest the latter. Weak pseudo-moralistic hand-wringing is unlikely to win the day anywhere.