Scientists managed to remove genes from a human embryo. And this is where people start to get nervous largely because it brings in a new level of scientific research and study about human development that seems like a bad idea waiting to happen. Halting progress is not only impossible in many cases but it is considered a dangerous way to slide into backwards thinking and a general decline of humanity. But striving to push forward again and again without any real understanding of why it could be anything less than positive is a continual failing of scientists that focuses on the method of how to do it rather than on the idea that maybe we shouldn’t.
If that sounds like ignorance speaking then think again. The breakthroughs for scientific research are important and are very much needed in order to understand why humans develop the way they do. But the idea of removing anything and everything that’s unwanted in the human embryo before they can become an issue is a slippery slide that doesn’t go anywhere pleasant at the end. Yes it would insure that some couples could have a healthy child despite any possible health concerns in their genetics. Yes it could insure that those children that might develop one disease or another could be helped ahead of time. But where does it end?
This might an argument you’ve heard over and over but it will never be enough really until people realize that good intentions are great, but when taken to extremes, as research such as this tends to do, they become a dangerous precedent as well. I’m all for trying to solve the reason why some kids are born into suffering and why others are not, but the simple fact of trying to discover a way to erase all that suffering is a shift in morality that will not end well.
It might seem like paranoia but when all diseases can be removed from a human embryo it will likely open the doorway to the idea of designer babies, to flawless children, and a society that no longer accepts the fact that they must make do with the children that are born to them. Yes, it’s a big exaggeration, but it’s one that people kind of need to pay attention to. As a parent I wouldn’t want any child to suffer needlessly, but also as a parent I would staunchly refuse to have a designer baby, a child that was genetically modified in order to make certain that they are as perfect as can be.
The type of research and effect might still be a long time in coming, but research such as this seems to indicate that this might be where it’s headed. Why is it such an issue? The better question is why isn’t it? Humanity is made up of flaws and yet we work around. We are made to suffer and yet we come back stronger, more resolute, and more determined to do things the way we want. Through our genetic flaws we find strengths that we never knew we had. Removing those flaws could cause worse damage than allowing them to remain.
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