Designer Babies
What would you do if you had the opportunity to change the genetic code of your child in the womb so they came out exactly how you wanted? You could have blue eyes, brown hair, and amazing intelligence. You would have yourself the perfect child, or a designer baby. Designer babies are children who has a changed genetic makeup, so that a specific gene is present or to avoid a defect that is passed down through the family. Some doubt that designer babies are a good thing for our society, but being able to change the genetic makeup of a child can help it and help advance our sciences. Designer babies are a good thing for our society.
First off, designer babies can keep children from having birth defects. Sometimes illness is passed down through genes, and being able to save a child from the pain of having a birth defect can be very important later in life. People can agree that if this was a simple and easy procedure anyone would do it. Parents now are already trying to help their children in the womb by taking vitamins and only eating certain foods. In an article by Paul Walman he stated, "What if a hundred years from now the technology had become safe, cheap, and easy, so a pregnant woman could pop a pill that costs a dollar and would boost her baby's IQ by 20 points—would you think it was wrong then? Keep in mind that parents already do a million things intended to help their developing children become healthier and smarter, some of which begin before the baby leaves the womb”(Walman, Paul). This makes sense because if anyone could help their child be smarter or more athletic they would. Everyone wants what is best for the child. If a child was born with an illness, parents would do everything they could to treat it after birth. If it is possible to treat the same illness before, why would anyone let their child suffer? Children deserve the best life they can have, and as a parent it would seem selfish to have that opportunity and not do what is better for the child. Another opportunity is for parents who already have one sick child, and can alter their second child to help the first born. It is possible to have a healthier child that can provide blood or healthy bone marrow to help their sibling.
Even so, many people are against designer babies. It is thought that this technology is only for the rich. It is very expensive and the unreasonable cost cannot be afforded by many. Even now the rich can afford to pay for a better nose, or a better body. Why would society support even more separation between the rich and poor? Another downfall would seem to be the child feeling left out of the choice to have the procedure done. Children might feel that they were only born to help the other child not because their parents wanted another baby. It is possible as well that if the parents can choose the sex of the baby it will become an issue, because our society already discriminative towards sex (Ghoose, Tia). It could change the relationship between child and parent in another way. If the parent expects a certain trait in the child, and they do not excel in that area the parents could become disappointed with their offspring.
Even if there is some potential harm, the procedure is only going to benefit society. As the process goes on, the designer babies will become available to everyone. To address the cost, if it is a little expensive at first, as other technology has gone to show, the availability changes over time. In modern day practically everyone has a cell phone, or other technology like a fridge. These things were harder to have when they first came out. Only the rich could afford them but now, everyone has an opportunity to have them. If society did not have an issue with these technologies coming into homes like this then if should not be against the designer babies. As previously mentioned the rich can already alter their bodies, what society does not realize is, “Right now we manage to distinguish between necessary medical procedures, which insurance will pay for, and elective ones, which are apportioned on the basis of wealth. Which means that rich people can have more symmetrical noses and perkier breasts and creepily unlined faces than ordinary people do, and that doesn't bother us enough to outlaw plastic surgery. You could envision a time when anyone can get their eggs adapted to remove a slate of harmful conditions and diseases, but only the rich can get the platinum service, which will also give your child shiny, manageable hair”(Walman, Paul). Next, the choice to have a child is up to the parents, and someone who wants another child would not bring a child into the world for only use to help their first child. Even if a baby is planned, it is because they want to care and love for another child while it can help their sibling as well. In our society, parents already try to have more kids whether or not their first born was sick. The fact is, an opportunity is presented if the parents decide to bring another life into the world to have that child help their sibling. Lastly, some scientists do not let parents change the sex of the child, only alter if they have a defect or not (Ghoose, Tia). This would keep them from being discriminative towards one sex or another.
This procedure is a good idea for our society to have. The technology is going to advance whether or not society likes it. In an interview with NPR.org Mark Sauer, a member of a scientist team working at Columbia University, comments on the effort the scientists are putting in to help mothers deliver healthy children. He is only trying to help women cure diseases in their children and help them to have happy successful childhoods. He makes it clear that the procedure replaces the mitochondria with a healthy new one. Between 1 in 2,000 and 1 in 4,000 babies born each year with syndromes are caused by a weak mitochondria. The syndromes can range from simple illness to life threatening. Sometimes there is no treatment, and the child dies early in life (Steien, Rob).
The society also benefits from this because it can cause a smarter generation. Not only is the following generations healthy as well, but they can come up with new technology. Another point to make is that no matter how much someone alters their child, the child is its own person. Someone can give a child a great skill level in athletics, great genes to make them beautiful or an amazing IQ, and that child would still choose to make their own decisions. They could become a baseball player or an accountant, but that is up to the child. The free will is not taken away just because the parents changed the genetic makeup. In the article, “Children to Order: The Ethics of Designer Babies”, the author Tia Ghose writes about the new technology behind designer babies, and believes, “When bringing a new child into the world, society has an obligation to determine whether the technologies used to do so actually benefit or harm the infant.” On the Live Science webpage that features her article, Ghose writes “Creating designer babies who are free from diseases and super athletic or smart may finally be around the corner.” The procedure brings about the opportunity to have a smarter generation and a healthier one from birth. Parents will finally be able to look forward to a society where their child does not have to go through the same illness as their family.
Tuesday, November 24, 2015
Thursday, November 19, 2015
Incorporating Sources Effectively
Paul Walman
“In Praise of Designer Babies”
October 10th, 2013
What if a hundred years from now the
technology had become safe, cheap, and easy, so a pregnant woman could pop a
pill that costs a dollar and would boost her baby's IQ by 20 points—would you
think it was wrong then? Keep in mind that parents already do a million things
intended to help their developing children become healthier and smarter, some
of which begin before the baby leaves the womb.”
Rob Stein
“Proposed Treatment to Fix Genetic Diseases Raises
Ethical Issues”
October 9th, 2013
In an interview with NPR.org Mark Sauer, a member of
a scientist team working at Columbia University, comments on the effort the
scientists are putting in to help mothers deliver healthy children.
Tia Ghose
“Children to Order: The Ethics of Designer Babies”
March 13th, 2014
In the article, “Children to Order: The Ethics of
Designer Babies”, the author Tia Ghose writes about the new technology behind
designer babies, and believes, “When bringing a
new child into the world, society has an obligation to determine whether the
technologies used to do so actually benefit or harm the infant.” On the Live Science
webpage that features her article, Ghose writes “Creating designer babies who
are free from diseases and super athletic or smart may finally be around
the corner…Not everyone thinks these ethical issues are so worrisome.”
Works
Cited
Walman,
Paul. “In
Praise of Designer Babies”. The American
Prospect Magazine Prospect Publications n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2013.
Steien, Rob. “Proposed Treatment to Fix Genetic
Diseases Raises Ethical Issues” Heath
News from NPR. NPR Publications n.d. Web. 9 Oct. 2013.
Ghose, Tia. “Children to Order: The Ethics of
Designer Babies”. Live Science. Live
Science Publications n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2014.
Developing my Argument
- How the world views designer babies and why they should be available.
- Current and future parents, and people who care about society.
- Discussing how designer babies can avoid certain illness that runs in the family that the child would otherwise be unable to avoid.
- My audience should believe me because I will take the time to thoroughly research the topic and I hope to be a future parent one day myself. I think having the option to help a child is important.
- One reason this should be allowed is because it can help keep children from having birth defects. Another reason is that children who were born first and had a disease can have a sibling that is designed to help their sibling by having either healthy blood or bone marrow to give help to the other child.
- Children might feel that they were only born to help the other child not because their parents wanted another baby.
- The choice to have a child is up to the parents, and someone who wants another child would not bring a child into the world for only use to help their first child. Even if a baby is planned, it is because they want to care and love for another child while it can help their sibling as well.
- The process is very expensive and not everyone can afford to design their child.
- As the process goes on, the designer babies will become available to everyone. Even if it is a little expensive at first, as other technology has gone to show, the availability changes over time.
- Society will benefit from this change because we will be able to make a smarter and healthier generation to grow up and take over the important positions. These generations will be able to come up with other technology that will help the world flourish.
Page 100: Thinking About the Text
1. Katherine Sprigs convinced me that this topic matters by using her own experiences. She taught me about her home town and what it was like growing up. The topic became important because it benefits your town and it benefits the sustainability of the farm and the world. The small farms cause less waste and damage to society. This would also reduce the cost of every day things, like fuel. The long term advantages of local farms are much larger than the disadvantages.
2. Sprigs touches base on how people who do not agree with her argument validate their own. She uses Alex Avery as an example, and gives an appropriate response to his view. She also used the industrial issues as a counterargument, and then brings in facts from a reliable source to prove that they are wrong. She continues to comment on how even though the global effect has some negative outcomes, like children losing jobs in Bangledesh, the United States would be demonstrating how people can change the environment and the government.
3.The last paragraph is effective because she uses a clear position. She uses a response to a counterargument, and gives us a reason why the topic matters. Her reasoning is about how food tastes better when grown in certain seasons, and she taps into peoples values by talking about how food is something we should enjoy and cherish.
4. The photos contribute to her argument by giving a better visual to her works. She shows a smaller, poly culture farm next to a large mono culture farm to show better how these look. It looks like the smaller farm is more fresh and delightful where as the large farm is more dry, and industrial. She also shows interstate trucking to comment on how expense it is to have to pay to move food sources from one place to another.
2. Sprigs touches base on how people who do not agree with her argument validate their own. She uses Alex Avery as an example, and gives an appropriate response to his view. She also used the industrial issues as a counterargument, and then brings in facts from a reliable source to prove that they are wrong. She continues to comment on how even though the global effect has some negative outcomes, like children losing jobs in Bangledesh, the United States would be demonstrating how people can change the environment and the government.
3.The last paragraph is effective because she uses a clear position. She uses a response to a counterargument, and gives us a reason why the topic matters. Her reasoning is about how food tastes better when grown in certain seasons, and she taps into peoples values by talking about how food is something we should enjoy and cherish.
4. The photos contribute to her argument by giving a better visual to her works. She shows a smaller, poly culture farm next to a large mono culture farm to show better how these look. It looks like the smaller farm is more fresh and delightful where as the large farm is more dry, and industrial. She also shows interstate trucking to comment on how expense it is to have to pay to move food sources from one place to another.
Thursday, November 12, 2015
Topics
Position paper topics:
Should people be allowed to have designer babies?
My position: Yes because if the parents are ill or would pass on a sickness the child can be born without it
Does teen pregnancy have a positive or negative affect?
-Negative
Should college athletes be paid?
No
Should sex education still be taught in schools?
Yes because it is important but they should teach a certain type of sex ed.
Should birth control be as available as condoms?
Yes because it is unfair to young girls that they have to trust that a condom will do the job
Should people be allowed to have designer babies?
My position: Yes because if the parents are ill or would pass on a sickness the child can be born without it
Does teen pregnancy have a positive or negative affect?
-Negative
Should college athletes be paid?
No
Should sex education still be taught in schools?
Yes because it is important but they should teach a certain type of sex ed.
Should birth control be as available as condoms?
Yes because it is unfair to young girls that they have to trust that a condom will do the job
"The Last Text" Summary and Analysis
This video contains three stories of three young people who were driving and texting and were in an accident because of it. The first story was told by a sister of the victim. She sent one word and her sister died in an accident. The next was a boy who was in the passenger seat of the car when it hit a tree. He had brain damage and now cannot do what he referred to as "normal things". The last was about a teenage girl who was on the way to watch a baseball game. One of her friends was giving her directions and she looked away too long and crashed. These stories were all used to tell people the hazard of texting and driving. At the end of the video AT&T states "Texting and Driving...It can wait".
This video works to make people stop texting and driving because it appeals to the emotions. The people who spoke were the family of people who passed, and one survivor. The families were hurt tremendously in the accidents because these good people died and were wounded. This appeals to our hearts because no one thinks that a text message is worth a life. It also appeals to our logic because we know we should not text and drive, but tend to do it anyways. This video shows you the reason why you should not text and what the consequences of that is.
This video works to make people stop texting and driving because it appeals to the emotions. The people who spoke were the family of people who passed, and one survivor. The families were hurt tremendously in the accidents because these good people died and were wounded. This appeals to our hearts because no one thinks that a text message is worth a life. It also appeals to our logic because we know we should not text and drive, but tend to do it anyways. This video shows you the reason why you should not text and what the consequences of that is.
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
Position Paper in Class Lab: How things mean
Album Covers:
They suggests that your face sells a product a certain way. The softer sexier feel of the woman suggests that her music is for other women who enjoy soft maybe even pop music. The men have strong and serious poses. This suggests their music shouldn't be taken lightly and that they are serious artists. The eyes work on the viewer to tell them what the music is about. The woman has a certain soft feel behind her eyes that the men don't have.
Peace sign buttons:
These buttons suggest world peace is more important than wars. They do this by saying "peace" and "make love not war". The elements that work are the peace sign because a lot of people are familiar with them and worlds like love and war because a lot of controversy surrounds them.
Different types of symbols and images in the media can suggest what the topic of the item or selling point is. The first way you can see this is on album covers. Images of people on the cover can change the whole selling point of the music. A picture of a woman, the singer, having soft eyes and a sexy feel can sell to both women and men. Women are attracted to the album because the feel of the music is softer and could contain pop undertones. Men on their albums tend to be seen as strong and almost cold on the cover. The music in those albums are seen as serious and important where as on the woman's album it is light hearted and sexy. Another way to see different images and symbols suggesting the topic is on buttons. On two different buttons they suggest that peace is important in life. On the first button it is easy to understand because of the common peace sign and the word peace. The words flow on the button and help to suggest a calming feel to it. The second button suggests that love is more important than war. It uses the peace sign again to suggest peace is more important than war. These symbols work because the faces have a certain tone and the symbols are common and recognizable to the public.
They suggests that your face sells a product a certain way. The softer sexier feel of the woman suggests that her music is for other women who enjoy soft maybe even pop music. The men have strong and serious poses. This suggests their music shouldn't be taken lightly and that they are serious artists. The eyes work on the viewer to tell them what the music is about. The woman has a certain soft feel behind her eyes that the men don't have.
Peace sign buttons:
These buttons suggest world peace is more important than wars. They do this by saying "peace" and "make love not war". The elements that work are the peace sign because a lot of people are familiar with them and worlds like love and war because a lot of controversy surrounds them.
Different types of symbols and images in the media can suggest what the topic of the item or selling point is. The first way you can see this is on album covers. Images of people on the cover can change the whole selling point of the music. A picture of a woman, the singer, having soft eyes and a sexy feel can sell to both women and men. Women are attracted to the album because the feel of the music is softer and could contain pop undertones. Men on their albums tend to be seen as strong and almost cold on the cover. The music in those albums are seen as serious and important where as on the woman's album it is light hearted and sexy. Another way to see different images and symbols suggesting the topic is on buttons. On two different buttons they suggest that peace is important in life. On the first button it is easy to understand because of the common peace sign and the word peace. The words flow on the button and help to suggest a calming feel to it. The second button suggests that love is more important than war. It uses the peace sign again to suggest peace is more important than war. These symbols work because the faces have a certain tone and the symbols are common and recognizable to the public.
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