What is a Designer Baby ?

Scientists often refer the term "designer baby" as a media phrase that tends to mislead the public into believing that babies are designable. To the scientist, the concept of the designer baby involves several different reproductive techniques, all of which just imparts a little more control to parents over what their off spring will be like.

Technically the notion if the designer baby is a blend of breakthroughs in the advanced reproductive technologies, genetics and genomics and the presents us with a promise. The promise is that we may be able to prevent a host of debilitating diseases in the generations to come. The predicament is that our newfound technology may lead to generation of customized individuals with prefabricated personalities, brains and even beauty. Many bioethicists are of the belief that eugenics-the practice of improving the human gene pool by eliminating the undesirable��"šï¿½Å¡ could soon become the reality. When science moves faster than moral understanding, it tends to leave ethical considerations behind.

The technique of preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) has enabled us to screen embryos for high-risk diseases and unknown conditions so that an embryo with an in herited condition need not be implanted in the womb. Although choosing an embryo for specific traits is not a possibility today it will be possible in time to come and make it possible for parents to choose an embryo based on its profile using a microchip technology .Scientists are already pushing the frontiers of genetic engineering ,which has become a term virtually synonymous with biotechnology. Pharmaceutical companies regularly use altered genes to produce designer drugs, and researchers are experimentally treating certain inherited diseases be altering the genes of individuals, a new form of medicine which is called 'gene therapy'

For some time now, Human genetic engineering has centered on cloning for therapeutic purposes, or for creating a new individual who has exactly the same genes as an existing one .Genetic manipulation of the embryo for esthetic purposes will be conceivable as our knowledge of the human genome increases and our ability to modify and change genes reaches a point of perfection.

The prospect of designing babies and the genomic revolution has induced a moral vertigo and raised some of the most challenging ethical questions regarding its propriety. The prominent arguments against genetic enhancement, and any form of bioengineering, point at a violation of a child's right to an open future. They indicate that such technology would predetermine the choices for a child by not permitting development if one's own right. Counter-arguments imply that an alternative to a cloned or genetically enhanced child is not one whose future is unbound be particular talents, but one at the mercy of the genetic lottery.

In terms of future human evolution, PGD and the as-yet-unrefined associated technologies can and probably will be used to create designer babies. It can only be hoped that the technology will be used responsibly. But it is possible to imagine a society free from some of the more horrendous genetic disorders, a society where humans can be bred for specific purposes like off planet living, where a genetic implantation is essential for survival. As we look back upon the chequered history of our species on this planet, we cannot be filled with pride, amazement and nail biting anxiety. So many times we almost didn't make it yet we survived and flourished. Now we are on the verge of manipulating our own future. Let us pray that humility and not arrogance guides us. On a personal note I believe in a God that protects us and is always bullish when betting on mankind's stock.