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Location: Jonquil City (aka Smyrna) Georgia- by Atlanta
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One of the biggest changes I see coming is going to be in the area of advances in DNA, genetic and cloning technology and the application of that in genetics. I can see a day in the next 25 years where the "old way" of "gambling" and making children is past and that people who want a baby will be able to go to a bio lab and "order" it custom made to the genetic specifications of the parents. The genes will be spliced or cloned and the baby made in a lab and implanted in the womb of the mother. The parents will know everything about the baby before it is born! They know how tall it will be as an adult, what it will look like and how smart and talented it will be. We have the technology to do this now but we seem to be scared to really dive into it. I think we will get over the fear and politics of this.
On the one hand genetic research is important and I do believe some genetic modification of the human genome is inevitable, but on the other hand if we as a society fall into a trap of defining ourselves by our genes, it will be to the detriment of our humanity. Also, people have a tendency to pick irrelevent attributes they find important, and downplay important attributes. In the modern world, height isn't all that important, yet most people have a bias towards it and would probably want all their kids to be over 6 feet tall, at least for the men, even though there are adaptive advantages to having a shorter stature (less energy is used by the body overall, less heat is trapped inside the body leading to better cooling, clothing and vehicles can be constructed using less materials and weight, etc.). Likewise, hair color and eye color, even skin color, are largely irrelevent (though darker skin could be advantageous in lower latitudes- yet society's prejudice is largely against dark skin). So my worry is people wil pick largely irrelevent attributes to modify, they will do so as a fad with no rational basis, and as a result, harm human genetic diversity in the long run.
Glad I'm not the only one whose mind went immediately to that movie. I also thought of Brave New World....
In honesty, I don't think I would pick out my child's traits even if such technology existed. The surprise of who and what my child will become is the fascination of parenthood.
I find it ironic that the people who worry about human genetic engineering are genetic determinists.
Look, so many things depend on talent, personality, and intelligence. Just because someone has a certain set of genes, does not mean that they will turn out that way. Also, many traits seem to affect a wide variety of behaviors. For example, someone who isn't phased by human suffering might make a prolific serial killer or a great paramedic or ER surgeon. Anyone who has heard the kind of jokes paramedics make or seen the joy they get describing the horrifying things they've seen to those weak stomachs can back me up on this. And virtually all of them have a severed arm with the watch still attached story with a "Take's a lickin' and keeps on tickin'" crack.
Also, people who tend to be easily bored and like a lot of stimulus often become attracted to either criminal behavior or unstructured and often stressful jobs like stockbroker, salesmen, police officer, firefighter, etc.
You again are afraid! Skill to change genes to create (to clone) healthy physically and morally people, it is one of the most important steps of mankind!
Less than the Hollywood films look!
I find it ironic that the people who worry about human genetic engineering are genetic determinists.
I don't think that's the issue at all. I think people are more worried about the consequences of a hypothetical future where physical conformity is enforced by social norms. A definitely, immediate loss of genetic diversity (perhaps a mystery plague could suddenly wipe out the human race) coupled with possible delitirious side effects on our spirituality. In a world where there is no "other", how would people learn values such as tolerance? Would we all be pressured to think alike as well?
If we are going to have genetic modification, it should be done for rational reasons, not for the whims of parents, or to turn everybody into Brad Pitt.
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