Genetic Screening and Designer Babies: Ethical and Scientific Considerations

The concept of designer babies often brings to mind scenes from science fiction movies where parents can choose everything from eye colour to intelligence levels for their child. While we are nowhere near such a level of genetic control, the technology to screen embryos for genetic disorders and select desirable traits is already available. However, the question arises of whether this technology is safe, ethical, and capable of producing the desired results. The recent article from Sciencenews.org, "Why screening DNA for designer babies probably will not work" and Youtube video from The Friendly Brain, “Designer Babies: The Science and Ethics of Genetic Engineering” sheds light on several of these issues.

First and foremost, it must be noted that the genetic screening process is not certain. The article states that many tests only identify a bit of disease-causing genetic variants and other tests may incorrectly identify variants that are harmless. Given the high cost of genetic screening, this could lead to unnecessary stress and expense for parents who may not have a clear understanding of the test's limitations. Moreover, the article highlights that not all genetic disorders can be discovered by genetic screening. As such, there is a risk that parents may not have an accurate picture of their child's medical future.