What with scientific advances lately, people can choose thier child's sex, like with invitro, and stuff like that. Lately, they've been getting good at isolating genes that cause stuff like, I don't know, baldness and stuff(no real life examples off the top of my head). Anyway, it is not inconceivable that in the nearby future, parents can pick certain traits that they want their kids to have, like higher intelligance, perfect teeth, etc. And what does this do to evolution, natural selection.

The point is, if this technology was available when you went to have a kid, would you make use of it?

Oh, and just added this informative link.

I'd probably have any inherited Illnesses like Diabetes removed but other than that I'd let nature make it's own way. I don't see whats wrong with stopping downs syndrome from appearing in your child but I have issue with choosing eye color.
Changing something for health benifits is far better than changing something purely for cosmetic reasons.



It would allow Auto-evolution (to degrees). Basicly science could dictate which way humanity went. I doubt it could wholey off set natural selection but who knows?

I'd practice immunization against possible diseases or severe disabilities, but otherwise let the genetic code sort itself out.

Natural selection hardly relates to humans anymore as it is.

Let's hear it for humanitarians.

I'd chose gender, and try to make sure certain diseases are prevented, but that's it. If I chose everything, birth just isn't a miracle anymore, you know? Plus, I like suprises. XD;; I want to see my son grow up healthy, becoming a bit more like me, a bit more like his father every day.

Screw it, I'd go for the whole "Pimp my Child" scene (boy, that sounds wrong).
Night Vision, super IQ, Strong phyique, tough bones, highly efficent matabolism, an extra heart, increased liver and kidney efficency, maybe sticky tips of fingers so he can climb buildings and the Fort Knox of immune systems. Make all the gense highly dominant and let me breed my Super soilders...

Thanks for the insight, Snake.

In all seriousness though, Dsigner babies aren't going to be a reality for a very long time.
We'll probably have to wait 'till 2010 before we are allowed to mapipulte the DNA and genes to stop inherited disease and probably another 5-6 years before the idea of improving IQ andf general health. It will probably be late 20's/early 30's before any legislation is proposed on actual Designer babies that allow parents to decide everything. Even then I highly doubt it will ever get to it's full "potential" and the science will only be used fo rmedical benifit.

The worst that could happen is that it's adapted for military use.
Children that mature faster, have more efficent bodies (Matabloism, muscular potentail, ability to deal with toxins to name but afew factors), higher IQ's and Brains easily suseptable to conditioning would make any 5 star General squeal in delight.

I rated(sp?) buy a doll.

I remember that my high school biology teacher briefly touched on this concept of designer babies. I actually think that I would make use of it, but just for things like eliminated genetic illnesses and such, make sure it's not terribly ugly (not for the vanity of the child, but more due to the vanity of the rest of the world) and maybe IQ, because I really can't take any more stupidity in my life, not saying that my child would be stupid, but if that's preventable . . .

I also agree that if/when it does become reality, it would be used for military purposes, and would they really publicize the (potential) fact that they know how to do it? If it becomes reality, it has the potential to become a "secret weapon" of sorts. The card up the sleeve and all that jazz.

Although, I suppose my main point right now, is that even if it is to become available to the rest of us, how many people who would like to make use of it will actually be able to afford it?

I wonder if there would be a new group therapy craze for children of designer children. It'd be all about people who are frustrated that they were desinged incorrectly

If you buy the Intelligent Design line of logic, we all fall into that category.

I tend to worry about people choosing gender, because that can lead to inbalance in the ratio of men to women, like people in India who abort thier child if they know that it is a girl instead of a boy.

Plus, if this was available to anyone(with enough money anyway), there would be trends where the richer people got more intellegent, stronger, prettier children, and unaltered people could be made to look down on themselves. And of course, it could be used for military purposes. Although it's not like you could get superhuman abilities or anything. I think theres only so much you can make human DNA do (although, I suppose it is theoretically possibe to splice animal genes onto a humans, but so many things can go wrong with that that I think that is highly unlikely).

Isn't that because:
1) There are far more femals in India (and China) than male sso there is already an imbalance.
2) The Y chromosone is getting weaker and crappy.

Letting gender be chosen could prevent alot of fetus being aborted.

I was pretty sure there are more males than females in China.

I don't really mind development in this.

I too, was under the impression that there were more males than females in countries like India and China.

Also, this is not nessisarily true. After all, procedures to choose the gender of a child-such as ones that they may already have in effect-tend to be quite expensive. The majority of people in countries where a son is held in more esteem than a daughter tend to be ill able to afford to throw around about a thousand dollars or so. Therefor, abortion as a cheaper alternative, would be much in demand. Also, in cultures where sons are prized, this is often because a son is less expensive than a daughter. In these cultures, a girl is often bringing the added burden of a dowry to the family, where a boy will marry and bring his wife's dowry into the family, thus enriching the family. Do not assume that just because this technology may be availabe, that it is cheap and easy compared to an abortion. Also, if your parents could choose the gender of thier child, would you be alive? Perhaps they wanted a boy or girl, and got the opposite? I probably would not be alive as I am, because I am the first-born female of my family, and my birthfather was known for wanting sons and kept getting girls due to his genetic predisposition. Even in America, I have no doubt that he would have used this technology, should it have been readily available back then, to produce a male progeny. A bad thing, as men on my father's side tend to inherit jerkiness in thier genetic code.

Also, where do you get this? I have heard of males suffering from not having an alternative Y chromosome, but never of a Y chromosome being "crappy". After all, is there is a deficiency in the genetic code, a female has more alternatives with her XY chromosome, but a male is stuck with the same XX chromosome. If there is something wrong with his X, he cannot make up for the deficiency with a Y.

The same prinicble applies. If people could choose the gender in China (I know it's not gonna happen) the genders should balance out going on the premis that people would not all choose the same gender.
(Plus there are trillions of "Femals" in China )



If there is massive numerical gender unbalance then the goverments can lower costs on the procedure.
Once choice of gender is more available (increase in the technology makes it cheaper, like plastic surgery) then such preasure to produce specific gender children would be aliviated.



DAMNIT! I passed biology, I should have know XX is male. Plainly I was stupid again.
An old biology teacher said the X chromosone was deteriating over the generations and perdicted it would eventually lead to far more women than men.
Sorry for the mix up , I'm getting stupider with eah day it seems

Anyway (cop out ahead!) I'm more intersted in the unsual possabilities given with designer babies.
Having seen a documentary on it afew years ago and with the infomation that scientits had made a pig with the "florescence" gene from some kinda jellyfish, is it not possible to give humans characteristics normally found in animals?

For info about gender ratio, click here

Not nessesarily if the majority of people express preferance over one sex.

Maybe, but the government may be hampered from doing this if the people stop them. Therefore, my conclusion is that the price, in America, at least, won't drop that low.

True, but that type of experimentation tends to be illegial. Dangerous as well, as nobody knows enough about human DNA to do this well.

Um... XX is female, XY is male. I am absolutely positively sure about this. And actually, its not having two Xs which makes males more prone to sex-linked recessive disorders. Because they only have one X, it automatically becomes the phenotype, whereas in a female it will most likely be covered by the other X chromosome. The Y chromosome doesn't really affect any of that it just makes you male.

Thanks for the clairification. I remembered some of that from biology, but you were way better at thinking and explaining it.

You're correct. Try to remember that males are more prone to getting genetical defects because they only have one X. Whereas females can either be carriers OR have it as well.

...probably the most intellegent post I've made so far on this forum. :|

IN B4 CP

:X

I'd like one with gills and X-Ray vision...

X-ray vision may be a problem (what with the radiation and all) but thema-vison or eyes that can see in ultra violet are plausable.



If current theories are right and sexuality is determind (to degrees) in the womb could it not be plausible to decide youe childs sexuality?

You mean thier gender identification/sexual preferance? I've heard that that can be linked to genes, so it might be possible.

what you said is not necessarily true.

that's only for sex-linked genetic disorders.

for certain diseases, it's more likely that a random mutation will create a genetic defect rather than a person having a sex-linked disease passed from their parents.

also women can express chimeric properties with having one normal x chromosome and one defective x chromosome.

ah, lol! heck, if i could i would design one after all my favorite anime characters...YAY!!!

i might but i can even imagine how i would react if i was actually offered the oppertunity. It would be pretty weird to have a child that you had designed. I think i would probably say no actually because it would just fell wierd and this designer child, the only thin that wouyld be any different would be his looks he would be just like any other child. Where would the fun of having a child be if you could just design it and know exactly what it would look like

I agree with those who said this is good to help prevent a child inheriting an illness, but if it's for their appearance that's just plain stupid.

(phone conversation) "Yes, I'd like my son to have blonde hair, green eyes, no freckles and a tall stature!"

Hypothetically (since me having a child is a LONG ways off), I wouldn't want to change anything about my child's personality or appearance. However, maybe I'd make them healthier if I could.