What would be the effect on society if the process of genetically modifying babies with the intention of eliminating genetic diseases became mainstream?
Introduction
The process known as preimplantation genetic diagnosis* begins with in vitro fertilization ensuring the absence, or in some cases, presence of particular genes. In short, any baby whose genetic material has been artificially selected can be considered a designer baby. Most commonly known for it use for cosmetic alterations, genetic modification is gain new ground in the field of genetic diseases, and the eliminating of such. The essentials of the procedure boil down to the selection of uninfected genes. Now to elaborate to the process of PGD.
How It Is Done:
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The process of genetically modifying babies can be summarized into 6 steps. To start, the women (mother) is given fertility drugs to try to ensure fertile eggs. Next the eggs are fertilized to produce embryos. The embryos are then analyzed for genetic defects, as decided by the parents, after eliminating the unwanted embryos, and finally the healthy embryos are injected into uterus.
The specifics of the process of genetic modification that we will be elaborating on, is the elimination of genetic diseases within the embryo. Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis, or PGD, is the current process of embryo screening for genetic diseases. During this process, several fertilized embryos are examined and tested for all known genetic diseases. Any embryos that are found to be unhealthy are discarded, and genetically healthy embryos are implanted back into the uterus.
The specifics of the process of genetic modification that we will be elaborating on, is the elimination of genetic diseases within the embryo. Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis, or PGD, is the current process of embryo screening for genetic diseases. During this process, several fertilized embryos are examined and tested for all known genetic diseases. Any embryos that are found to be unhealthy are discarded, and genetically healthy embryos are implanted back into the uterus.
![Picture](/uploads/9/3/6/9/9369631/2795279.gif)
This diagram shows how embryos with mutated genes would be discarded, while the healthy embryo would be used.
Essentially the elimination of genetic diseases could be consider the same as changing the eye colour or gender of the baby, however the effects of creating a "healthier" race of humans could be monumental, if, and only if it is used within reason. If society were to make the process of genetically modifying babies with the intention of eliminating diseases mainstream, then we would assume that science would make progressions and enhancements to better utilize and expand the field to a more reliable and accessible procedure.
We would like to examine the future of genetically modified babies and the effect it would have on population, available jobs, cost and health of society.
Population
_If
genetic modification were to become a mainstream process in the health
care system, there would be an increase in the amount of genetically
healthy children. With 30% of babies currently dying from genetic
diseases ("Prevalence of Genetic Conditions / Birth Defects") and 60% of
people who would partake in the screening (Lemonick, M. (1999)), we
would be increasing the amount of disease-free births by 18% (+/- 1.0%).
However, according to the demographic transition model (population
graph), as the quality of the health care system, or the success rate of
healthy births increase, the population decreases. This is due to the
assurance of a disease free newborn. Essentially when a child is more
likely to survive, parents will have less children because they know
that the children they have will survive. Although at first glance it
would seem that Genetic Modification would cause an increase in
population, after the analysis and breakdown of population patterns with
reference to development and quality of health care we noticed that it
is in fact the opposite.
Cost- Health Care vs. Genetic Engineering
The cost of genetic screening and selection of genetically healthy embryos is much lower than that of treating or caring for a person with a genetic disease. For example, the average annual cost of medical care for a person with cystic fibrosis in 1996 was $13 300 ("The Cost of Medical Care for Patients With Cystic Fibrosis in a Health Maintenance Organization"), while the total cost of preimplantation genetic diagnosis and in vitro fertilization is approximately $16 500 ("Fertility - Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD)"). The average life expectancy for patients with cystic fibrosis is 37 years ("Cystic Fibrosis: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia"), so the total cost of health care over their lifetime would be $492 100. This number is almost 30 times the cost of a pre-implantation medical diagnosis. As the technology used becomes more widely available and advancements in science are made, this process will become less costly. As well as lessening monetary cost, the pre-implantation genetic diagnosis will eliminate the emotional cost of losing human lives. Overall, we believe that most people would find this route personally favorable because of the financial aspect, as well as knowing that fewer people were dying from, or having to live with a genetic disease.
Future Effects- Beneficial or not?
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Glossary
preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD)- the current process of embryo screening for genetic diseases
designer baby- a colloquial term that refers to a baby whose has been altered by genetic engineering or genetic modification
designer baby- a colloquial term that refers to a baby whose has been altered by genetic engineering or genetic modification
Works Cited
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