Designer babies

Designer babies...Yep, we've been talking about it for ages, but it seems like we're getting closer everyday. The process itself doesn't freak me out as much as the people we might inadvertently weed out because of the potential for disease or bad eyesight or something. Bill Gates pops to mind--probably because of all those damn Windows/PC commercials they're running now--though I'm sure there are others that are far less debatable. Like him or not, you must admit the world would be a different place without the advances he made.

 

Then again, I mean, if you believe that everything happens for a reason, then you would believe that we've arrived at this point in technology and there's a reason for it.

 

It's more interesting to me to think about what kind of society would be created if we could control the creation of the next generation. Then, not only would have teenagers moping about not having enough money or a car, but also that you didn't spend enough to give them the "good genes." Interesting, right? The gap between the rich and the poor would only be furthered by this process. You might be lucky and hit the genetic lotto naturally--intelligence, good eyesight, no major diseases, athletic ability, etc. But if everyone who has money is guaranteed those qualities, eeesh. The ability to climb up in the world, to get ahead, might only become that much harder. At the very least, the "natural" ones will face much stiffer competition for jobs, spouses, etc.

 

Or am I looking at this the wrong way? Is this just the next phase of "survival of the fittest"?

 

For those who are interested, Gattaca covers this ground pretty well. Children of Men kind of takes a different approach on a related path--our fertility as a species seems to be declining (which may have more to do with more news about the subject and people's willingness to talk about such things now than an actual scientific trend). Will our choices make us extinct? What if the desire to have a "perfect" baby leads to no babies? That's not really the plot of Children of Men, but it's an interesting kind of twist.

 

: ) Stacey, a redhead (a hair color that results from a genetic mutuation and will be virtually non-existent in the next 100 years, according to scientists) with pale skin, extremely poor eyesight and NO athletic ability. Thank God my parents weren't picky!