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24HourForums.com > Supported Forums > Brian's Science & Nature Shack > The First Genetically-Modified Human Embryo |
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Brian Grand Poobah of Moderation 
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This story is pretty interesting. Disturbing, too... In principle, I can see the benefits to mankind if you could, for example, find the gene(s) responsible for muscular dystrophy and simply eliminate them. In practice, though, this is pretty grizzly. It's creating human life with the expressed intent of destroying it once you've learned what you can from it. It at least poses a lot of troubling ethical questions...
 "It's been a long December, and there's reason to believe maybe this year will be better than the last." -- "A Long December", Counting Crows |
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UsedToRide Original500© Member  ^^^That is LOVE!!^^^
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Brian, the stuff you find is always so interesting!! I have to mull this one over for a bit. Last time I "locked horns" with you on a subject like this, you taught me a lot! I don't expect anything different this time, either, no matter what I end up thinking of it. First reaction; opposed to the idea.
Respect some, trust one, fear none ~~Bullet http://www.freeholbrook.com The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons. ~~Dostoyevsky |
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Brian Grand Poobah of Moderation
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UsedToRide wrote: Brian, the stuff you find is always so interesting!! I have to mull this one over for a bit. Last time I "locked horns" with you on a subject like this, you taught me a lot! I don't expect anything different this time, either, no matter what I end up thinking of it. First reaction; opposed to the idea. This is one of those things where I just don't know what to think, UTR!  I can definitely see some potential for things to go incredibly wrong, but I don't think anyone can deny the great progress that would be made if this was done correctly. If you could learn what causes a genetic defect, and "head it off at the pass", so to speak, that would be an enormous benefit to mankind. I think there would need to be laws in place, though, to keep people from making "boutique babies", where every single aspect of their appearance is "corrected". Something like that could lead to a real problem in the gene pool, long-term.
"It's been a long December, and there's reason to believe maybe this year will be better than the last." -- "A Long December", Counting Crows |
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24HourNut Administrator  Body pillows rock!
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Some other Country with no laws for it or that just simply allows it will get to it eventually if we don't, I bet.
The best human beings start good new topics and vote on the better posts. |
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Brian Grand Poobah of Moderation
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24HourNut wrote: Some other Country with no laws for it or that just simply allows it will get to it eventually if we don't, I bet. I can agree with that. It seems clear to me that this is one of those things that someone will do. Having said that, I think there need to be strict laws concerning how the technology is used. It's far too easy to mess with things we don't have a proper understanding of yet. You could potentially end up with a "normal"-looking offspring with some genetic time bomb ticking inside them, waiting a few generations to be released. Progress is inevitable, but we need to tread carefully.
"It's been a long December, and there's reason to believe maybe this year will be better than the last." -- "A Long December", Counting Crows |
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Marie5656 Forum-Blogger© Original500© Member  Just hanging out
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I think this is another article on the same topic. I am not sure yet what I think of it: Altered Human Embryo Decried as 'Designer Baby' Malcolm Ritter, Associated Press May 13, 2008 -- News that scientists have for the first time genetically altered a human embryo is drawing fire from some watchdog groups that say it's a step toward creating "designer babies." But an author of the study says the work was focused on stem cells. He notes that the researchers used an abnormal embryo that could never have developed into a baby anyway. "None of us wants to make designer babies," said Dr. Zev Rosenwaks, director of the Center for Reproductive Medicine and Infertility at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. The idea of designer babies is that someday, scientists may insert particular genes into embryos to produce babies with desired traits like intelligence or athletic ability. Some people find that notion repugnant, saying it turns children into designed objects, and would create an unequal society where some people are genetically enriched while others would be considered inferior. The study appears to be the first report of genetically modifying a human embryo. It was presented last fall at a meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, but didn't draw widespread public attention then. The result was reported over the weekend by The Sunday Times of London, which said British authorities highlighted the work in a recent report. Rosenwaks and colleagues did the work with an embryo that had extra chromosomes, making it nonviable. Following a standard procedure used in animals, they inserted a gene that acts as a marker that can be easily followed over time. The embryo cells took up the gene, he said. The goal was to see if a gene introduced into an abnormal embryo could be traced in stem cells that are harvested from the embryo, he said. Such work could help shed light on why abnormal embryos fail to develop, he said. No stem cells were recovered from the human embryo, said Rosenwaks, noting that abnormal embryos frequently don't develop well enough to produce them. Marcy Darnovsky, associate executive director of the Center for Genetics and Society, said the Cornell scientists were developing techniques that others might use to make genetically modified people, "and they're doing it without any kind of public debate." A London-based group called Human Genetics Alert similarly criticized the work. But Kathy Hudson, director of the Genetics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C., said she's not troubled by the work. She said the idea of successfully modifying babies by inserting genes remains a technically daunting challenge. "We're not even close to having that technology in hand to be able to do it right," she said, and it would be ethically unacceptable to try it when it's unsafe
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Brian Grand Poobah of Moderation
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Marie5656 wrote: "We're not even close to having that technology in hand to be able to do it right," she said, and it would be ethically unacceptable to try it when it's unsafe. This sounds remarkably naive to me. First of all, we almost certainly will get to the point where we have the necessary technology, even if we're not there now. Secondly, why would safety necessarily be an issue? Safety is a secondary concern. The main concern is consent. You'd better believe that if the time comes when it's possible, this technology will be used on an embryo to correct genetic problems. The rationale for doing it will be simple: If it works, and the baby lives, it's a big success, and a huge boon, both to the baby and to society. If it fails, and the baby dies, the baby will have been spared the tremendous suffering that the genetic tinkering was meant to prevent. Safety concerns will prevent (probably) the more ridiculous uses of the technology (making your baby taller, blonder, with a certain shade of blue eyes, etc.), but for legitimate medical uses, I don't see safety as being a big hurdle. The stakes are too high.
"It's been a long December, and there's reason to believe maybe this year will be better than the last." -- "A Long December", Counting Crows |
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cynicalninja Forum-Blogger© Original500© Member  Smiling Shinobi
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As long as it is used to treat genetically inherited diseases and conditions I can't see anything wrong with it, is just a collection of cells at the end of the day. It shouldn't be used for the purposes of eugenics of any kind though, thats not a moral call just a call for practical application. It would be interesting to see who many people who are "morally" opposed to it would change their opinion if some of the breakthroughs it uncovers could be used to the betterment of their own or their families medical health.
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24HourForums.com > Supported Forums > Brian's Science & Nature Shack > The First Genetically-Modified Human Embryo | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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