Debate Digest: Teacher-student friendships on Facebook, Law school, Balanced budget amendment, US debt ceiling deal.

Debate: Designer babies

From Debatepedia

(Difference between revisions)

Jump to: navigation, search

Revision as of 21:25, 24 October 2010

Should parents screen for desirable genetic traits in offspring, producing "designer babies"?

Background and Context of Debate:

A designer baby is a baby which has been genetically and biologically modified to possess the most optimal characteristics of its parents.

The technology required to do so is not available, though it may be created within a few decades. Popular culture has depicted designer babies through movies and books, with some of them being positive and the others being negative.

In order to give their child the best life they could possibly have and to be the best person, some parents feel that having designer babies is part of procreative beneficence and is necessary.

However, many international laws and policies prohibit experimentation on humans. Also, philosophers fear that if designer babies were created, then there would be further segregation in the world.

Designer Babies Will be Considered to be Superior than Children Born "Normally"

Pro

Yes, designer babies would grow up as genetically superior to children born normally, and normal children would be discriminated against because of their lack of having genetically modified talents. How can any normal child hope to become a better basketball player than a children specifically designed in a lab to play basketball? How can the average child compete with a designer baby for academic awards, such as valedictorian? Designer babies would have an unfair advantage in life.