Can We Return The Baby If It Doesn't Look Right?

In a world consumed with achievement, it’s no wonder that people have started to turn to genetic engineering to protect out different diseases linked to genetic disorders. Cystic Fibrosis, Down syndrome and Anemia are just some of the over 4 000 currently known genetic disorders, coming from any of the 30 000 genes that are present in the 23 chromosomes of a human being. All these advances are giving the human population greater long life and hope to those who suffer from serious illness attached to genetics. But these motions are also resulting in a new trend throughout the world: genetically engineering your baby. Sounds like fun, right? All of this is becoming a reality as genetic engineering transcends in what we’ve ever thought possible; it’s gone from fixing life and death errors to “fixing” the future. 

All of this is done through In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) where the embryo is “created” in a little test tube or Petri dish in a nice, sterilized lab. The little embryo, along with a few other of its “siblings” sit in ideal conditions until a cell can be gathered and screened for the eventual traits of the future child. Based on what the parents want, a suitable embryo is then selected and placed into the mother, where it develops like a normal embryo would. And YAY! You’ve got yourself your “dream child”.

I’m sure it sounds tempting. But one large problem is the future of children if genetically engineered children become widespread over natural children. And well, it has already begun to become popular around the world in the form of gender selection. Can you imagine being told you should be what your parents want you to be because they paid thousands of dollars for you? If genetically engineered children become popular, and they probably will, it seems that parenting will begin to lose the warmth and love that is supposed to go along with it, and become a competition of the best child, along with giving parents a mindset of “I paid a lot of money for you, so you better turn out the way I planned.”

Using IVF creates many embryos, from which only one is selected. The fertilization clinic is then responsible for the rest of the unused embryos. More often than not, they’re just abandoned as if they were unimportant. This brings up the debate of whether or not an embryo is considered “living” and has a right to remain so, even if the parents don’t want it.

This newfound industry has definitely gotten out of hand. Machine learning was supposed to be able to create perfect “humans” that would fit into society. Who needs to build robots when you can just build a baby? This certain future is going to take the depth of parenting and turn it into a competition that is going to homogenize society, along with throwing everything out of balance not to mention the embryos that are being thrown away like trash.

Sources:

"Designer Babies- "Like it or Not here they come"

"Designer Babies: "A Right To Choose?"

"A Baby, Please. Blond Freckles-- Hold the Colic"

"The Great Designer Baby Controversy of ’09"

Comments:

Claudia Luk

Marc Gonzales

Humans vs Biodiversity

Biodiversity is the basics of continuing life in the environment.Without biodiversity, species of organisms during the whole of the world would be affected to events such as diseases and environmental accidents that would most likely wipe out the whole population. By way of having biodiversity, protected organisms would be able to survive, and will continue a population by passing on the protected DNA. Except how are humans affecting biodiversity? Humans are affecting biodiversity in a way that could be certain negatives. We know that humans have been on Earth for thousands of years or more, and have been affected by the same things as animals, like natural choice and changes. Distant other organisms, we do not let the weak to fall to predators because they prevent the rest of society, but we show tender feeling and shelter them from dangers that nature would regularly act. While animals increase to change to new environments influence by global warming, humans easily develop tools to battle their changing environments. The truth is that everything we do changes other organisms everywhere, which is leading to a failure in biodiversity.

Individual way that humans have greatly changed biodiversity is through  forestry worldwide. Regular forestry, we limit the number of natural habitats available to animals. Planting seedlings where trees had just been cut down may help, but not the animals that need larger trees to survive. With declining habitats, smaller organisms begin to become more centered, and become changed by limiting factors. These limiting factors cause high selection, and remove the weaker organisms from the species. By removing many of the weak at the same time, in some important historical information is lost forever, breaking the biodiversity of the species.

Although organisms lower on the food chain are not the only ones influenced by habitat loss. Organisms higher up are also affected, more to a higher level. As habitat is lost, the population of smaller organisms decreases, so will the animals above it. This  highly changes the biodiversity of a species, and places the species at risk of death from just one disease. 

Agriculture is one area that is highly affected by biodiversity. The human race is bent on  completing  work rate and effectiveness, no matter the cost. That's why crops nowadays are being bred and naturally  become to be bigger, have a shorter growing season, and become protected to common fungi and diseases. You might think that it's okay, since they're helping become protected to certain things, but it leaves the crops to be weak to others.

 

Us humans have a negative effect on biodiversity with the growth of our land. Habitats are lost, and animals of all trophic levels are being affect through the loss of historical material. By breeding plants and animals to fulfill the needs of humans. Biodiversity is a block upon which the world strands, and we're slowly letting it  wear  away. Soon enough, we will all realize what we've done to this world and what the future will hold.

Sources:

"Scientific Facts on Biodiversity and Human Well-being"

"Defining species: The indirect impact of humans on biodiversity"

What is Biodiversity?

Comments:

Claudia Luk

Vanessa Lee