If you had been given the choice, wouldn’t you have wanted to be born with a different eye color, skin tone or a smaller nose? Perhaps you would have chosen to be more athletic, taller or thinner. So, why is it publicly considered so wrong to make use of this advanced technology to provide our children with the very best there is? Why is the prospect of creating healthy, good looking, almost impeccable human beings seen as an abomination to human nature?
As with nearly all medical interventions that have to do with reproductive biology, PGD causes a great deal of controversy, to say the least. It is therefore outlawed in many countries, such as in Austria and Switzerland, and accessible in certain countries, like in the UK, US and China but with limitations to its application. For instance, this procedure is, in addition to detecting diseases, allowed to be used for sex selection to avoid sex-linked diseases but strictly forbidden solely for sex selection. Perhaps I need to first establish that there is a difference between therapy and enhancement. Therapy involves the use of technology to treat or cure diseases, while enhancement is the process of selecting specific traits to “designing” a desired baby. The term “Designer Babies” was originally taken from designer clothes and is currently used by the press and opponents only to indicate the disapproving implication of the transformation of human beings. While the foremost use of PGD is to prevent serious genetic disorders, it is, however, difficult to draw the line as to what a ‘serious’ disorder is. While some people may interpret serious conditions as something interfering with a person’s survival, others think it is something preventing an equal advantage in life quality.
As with nearly all medical interventions that have to do with reproductive biology, PGD causes a great deal of controversy, to say the least. It is therefore outlawed in many countries, such as in Austria and Switzerland, and accessible in certain countries, like in the UK, US and China but with limitations to its application. For instance, this procedure is, in addition to detecting diseases, allowed to be used for sex selection to avoid sex-linked diseases but strictly forbidden solely for sex selection. Perhaps I need to first establish that there is a difference between therapy and enhancement. Therapy involves the use of technology to treat or cure diseases, while enhancement is the process of selecting specific traits to “designing” a desired baby. The term “Designer Babies” was originally taken from designer clothes and is currently used by the press and opponents only to indicate the disapproving implication of the transformation of human beings. While the foremost use of PGD is to prevent serious genetic disorders, it is, however, difficult to draw the line as to what a ‘serious’ disorder is. While some people may interpret serious conditions as something interfering with a person’s survival, others think it is something preventing an equal advantage in life quality.
Even though the idea of using advanced reproductive technologies for enhancement has been raising most of the ethical questions, there are still thousands of people who oppose the alteration of the genetic code to screen for genetic disorders. These people argue that being an embryo is as much a part of the lifecycle of a human as an infant, child or adult and that it must not be discarded if a genetic defect has been diagnosed. An embryo is a form of life and should be respected, much like pro-life campaigners (e.g. anti-abortionists) would say. They believe that scientists shouldn’t attempt to “play God” and interfere with his creation. On the other hand, supporters state that if we want to draw a line on Designer Babies, we have to draw it in a different place. We should at least use these advances within genetics to detect diseases. To say to never genetically engineer an embryo because it is not the ‘norm’ in our society and leave children impaired or dying, is not the right ethical course either. Did you know that it is possible for PGD to prevent 5 to 10 percent of all cancers? More recently, PGD has been used to diagnose cancer predisposition syndromes, such as for breast cancer. And so scientists claim that not using these technologies would be immoral and unethical.
There is also an ethical concern regarding the purpose of savior siblings. These embryos are conceived with the aim of saving their sick sibling’s life by providing a tissue-matched blood stem cell transplant. How ethical is it to bring in a life in order to save another? In addition, most of the savior siblings are exposed to a number of medical procedures from the day they were born. Not only do they suffer from physical pain and stress but can also suffer from tremendous psychological stress. They might see themselves as only a means to save their siblings and nothing more.
It is indeed a heated issue that is not likely going to become the “norm” soon. However, it also took people some time to get used to the concept of IVF and now it has become commonplace. But where should the line be drawn in relation to all the ethical concerns? More on the ethical debate in the following posts!
There is also an ethical concern regarding the purpose of savior siblings. These embryos are conceived with the aim of saving their sick sibling’s life by providing a tissue-matched blood stem cell transplant. How ethical is it to bring in a life in order to save another? In addition, most of the savior siblings are exposed to a number of medical procedures from the day they were born. Not only do they suffer from physical pain and stress but can also suffer from tremendous psychological stress. They might see themselves as only a means to save their siblings and nothing more.
It is indeed a heated issue that is not likely going to become the “norm” soon. However, it also took people some time to get used to the concept of IVF and now it has become commonplace. But where should the line be drawn in relation to all the ethical concerns? More on the ethical debate in the following posts!
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