Designer babies refer to genetically engineeredbabies that are created through advanced reproductivetechnology. Such technology allows parents anddoctors to screen a baby’ s embryo in order to findany genetic disorders and select the healthy embryos.

After choosing the healthy embryo, only the selectedone is implanted back in the mother’ s womb. Thisprocess is called Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis(PGD). Another method is InVitro Fertilisation (IVF).

This process allows the fertilization of an egg witha sperm in a test tube, which occurs outside of themother. By doing so, parents and doctors can reducethe chances of a baby being born with a genetic disorder.

The pros of designer babies are that it makes abetter understanding of genetics for biologists andgenealogists. It also reduces the chances of inheritedmedical conditions like obesity and cancer, while givinga child a healthy life devoid of mitochondrial disorders.

Moreover, it can increase the human life spanby more than 30 years as well as prevent geneticdiseases like Alzheimer’ s. However, while there aremany positive aspects to designer babies, there arenegative sides. The cons of designer babies are thatthe selected embryo can be terminated if the processis not done correctly; this process is still not 100%ready to safely experiment. Additionally, eventually,the increase in the number of designer babies canalso create a huge gap within society as designer babieswill be better looking, smarter and overall moresuperior. The procedure of designing babies is notcheap, so this will cause prejudice between non designedand designed babies.

In my opinion, I think that designer babies shouldnot continue to be created, because the whole worldcan change as we know it. Over population can occursince life spans can increase for 30 more years.

Poverty levels can increase because the designedbabies will have a higher chance of getting a job thena non-designed babies. Although technology presentscountless optimistic opportunities for the future, wemust be wary of the consequences.

Bryan Kyoungtae Min
Irvine High School 12th Grade

<Bryan Kyoungtae Min>