ipl-logo

Genetic Selection In The Film 'Gattaca'

1245 Words5 Pages

Would you want the perfect child? The idea of having a parent directed genetically perfect generation is not a new, just look at the 1997 film Gattaca. Only, a superior society is good on paper, but not even close to ethical in real life. The process of genetic selection is a sci-fi fantasy which should not be translated into the real world. Genetic selection is new, unsupervised, and dangerous for the potential children who were their parent’s top choice in a laboratory. The physical effects on selected children are unknown, and can’t be researched without major ethical dilemmas such as human testing and the disposal of fertilized eggs. In my final analysis, I am strictly against the use of genetic selection for “perfect” embryos.
When children are carried, parents are expected to have a multitude of questions. Boy or girl? Red hair or blond? With genetic selections, you know basically all of the answers. As a parent, you have eggs harvested surgically which are then fertilized. Three days after fertilization, two cell are taken from each eight-celled …show more content…

A wise man named Bert Lance once said, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Lucky, the breeding of all living things isn’t broken. The whole point of a randomly selected genome is for individuality and mistakes. Another wise person by the name of Ellen Degeneres said this: “Flaw make us human.” Selecting the way that somebody will look like, be like, or be for is really hazardous for everybody. Also, the fact that genetic selection is unsupervised should raise a couple red flags. Lastly, the effects of designer genes are unfair for those who are forced to live with those repercussions every day. Genetic selection is an atrocious deal for all of the parents, children, and grandchildren involved. Therefore, I am a firm believer that genetic selection is unjust and erroneous to be allowed to continue routinely in our world

Show More
Related

  • Pros And Cons Of Genetic Engineering In Harrison Bergeron

    698 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Pros and Cons of Genetic Engineering also show that genetic engineering can lead to overpopulation and wars. First of all, in Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., everyone is the same and they have strict laws. In Harrison Bergeron, people are made to be the same by putting weights on strong people, making beautiful people wear ugly masks, and hindering smart people’s thoughts. In Jonas’ community, there is Sameness, which is making everything the

    Read More

  • Csikszentmihalyi's Essay: The Future Of Happiness

    1008 Words  | 5 Pages

    As technology improves, so do human capabilities of altering nature, which in turn creates increased responsibility. This directly relates to genetic engineering, which is beginning to morph into a reality. There are advocates for both sides that convey their personal opinions about the hypothetical results, but neither is clearly superior since both arguments speculate upon an unknown future. Hungarian psychologist, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, outlines this topic in his essay “The Future of Happiness,” which focuses on the history of selective breeding and compares the goal of happiness with genetic engineering. Csikszentmihalyi alternates between viewpoints regarding genetic engineering but presents a perspective dominated by warning.

    Read More

  • Science Vs. Progress In The Progressive Era

    897 Words  | 4 Pages

    In today’s world, you can have your baby with blue eyes, perfect height, and how you want your baby to look when is old. Now we can even make a baby be born smart because now scientists are more specialized in genetic and how the genes work. For example, if women can’t have babies she can rent a belly from another woman so she can have the baby but the baby is going to have the DNA of the women who can’t have babies, not of the other woman. Is pretty impressive how today scientist can modify genetically the genes of babies before they are even born. Now in today’s world is almost possible to create the perfect baby if we want.

    Read More

  • Argument Against Designer Babies

    665 Words  | 3 Pages

    Yet, they overlook the fact that society has different tastes in specific traits, looks, and personality. The community will still have a blend of people with different skin tones, hair color, personality, and interests; all up to the choice of the parents. That is the beauty behind the madness; parents having the choice of the genetics of their child, leading to a more intelligent, healthier, and superior

    Read More

  • Analyzing The Article 'The Life Editor' By Michael Page

    850 Words  | 4 Pages

    Alexis Wolf Professor Julia Gousseva October 29th 2017 Critical Reading 112 Are designer babies the future? Just think about it, designing the traits of your future child to look specifically however you want. The article “The Life Editor” by Michael Page discusses the idea of scientifically modifying genes and the possibilities the methods of gene editing can hold. Page describes the new innovation called CRISPR gene editing.

    Read More

  • Synopsis Of The Movie 'Gattaca'

    795 Words  | 4 Pages

    Gattaca shows many times that genetic testing can be beneficial and has completely taken over society but at the same time provides many hardships like discrimination against certain ranks of

    Read More

  • Advantages And Disadvantages Of Artificial Selection

    722 Words  | 3 Pages

    A disadvantage of artificial selection is stated on, “Lee County Students”, saying that “However, genetic modification is highly controversial.” This is a disadvantage because artificial selection is not fully proven to work, and there are not many studies that show it works easily. Another disadvantage of artificial selection is an unexpected result. There are many different outcomes of artificial selection and can be a surprise to the organism and owner, stated on “Pros and Cons of Artificial Selection”. A final disadvantage of artificial selection is shortened life.

    Read More

  • Why Genetic Engineering Is Bad

    724 Words  | 3 Pages

    This can lead to genetic defects, it limits genetic diversity, and it can be taken to very extreme levels. ` To start us off, genetically engineering a baby can be very unsafe for it and lead to genetic defects. Scientists don’t know everything about the human body yet, and because of this, if we end up modifying something, it could end up affecting something important that we didn’t know about. We also can’t predict the outcome of the modification yet. Scientists could be able to possibly knock out a disease out of our genetic code, but since we don’t

    Read More

  • How Do Eugenics Address The Line Between Utopia And Dystopia

    877 Words  | 4 Pages

    Eugenics: Addressing the Line Between Utopia and Dystopia Many biologists/geneticists are in favor of eugenics due to the possibility of advancing the human race, limiting disease, and decreasing the occurrence of negative mutations, while others believe eugenic practices are unethical, useless, and have more potential for harm. Eugenic practices have proven to be extremely controversial, so I will focus on discussing the potential impacts of eugenics on the human body, society, and morality. Modern eugenic practices consist of two types of gene alteration: negative genetic engineering, which is the process of removing genes to combat disease, and gene therapy, which improves one 's genetic make-up (Hix, 2009, para. 4). Both methods of eugenics are equally controversial and equally promising. Gene therapy has been used to

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Designer Babies

    1247 Words  | 5 Pages

    What is your image of perfect? By altering genes it would be possible to produce, what in your eyes might be, the “perfect” child. Designer babies are children whose genes are artificially altered and replaced at an embryonic stage to either express or eliminate certain genes. English physician, Walter Heape, established the scientific roots of in vitro fertilization in the late-nineteenth century by transferring embryos from one rabbit to another. The first successful application of IVF in humans took place almost a century later on July 25, 1978, when Louise Brown was born and entitled the world 's first “test-tube baby” (Lerner).

    Read More

  • Essay On Gene Editing

    1370 Words  | 6 Pages

    Editing of the human genome in the past has been only a sight seen in dystopia works such as Brave New World. Now, genetic enhancement is a prevalent today and people are beginning to realize the issues that can arise from creating these designer babies. Gene editing can be helpful to eradicate life changing disabilities. Yet, the term disability does not correctly label these differently abled people, as the idea of what is considered disabled has changed overtime. To fully understand the consequences and implications of genetic selection and enhancement of human embryos, society must mature and declare lines of what is and is not ethically moral.

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of Eugenics

    722 Words  | 3 Pages

    Though eugenics may begin with good intentions, through events such as The Holocaust, one can see how quickly the good intentions can be twisted and turned into something vile and inhumane. It really boils down to the fact that yes, the human race is imperfect. But in that imperfection beauty is found in the diversity as well as progress. If humans were all perfect specimens, there would be no reason to dream or hope for a better tomorrow. The dreamers are the ones who advance society and always have been.

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay: The Ethics Of Designer Babies

    1584 Words  | 7 Pages

    Therefore, if two parents are carriers of a certain gene that will disable their child, they can modify that gene to make a child that will not have that disability. As well as some parents will have designer babies to save another child they already have with a certain disease. In this method, parents will choose their child’s blood type and such in order for them to match that other diseased child and potentially give them their blood, marrow, and even organs. Genetically modifying a child’s chance of disease ensures that a child may live a life without potential disease and disability that they may have been more prone to had their parents’ not used this method. This also ensures a healthy life for a child that had a greater potential of having a medical condition due to their parents being carriers of that particular gene.

    Read More

  • Designer Babies In Aldous Huxley's Brave New World

    2065 Words  | 9 Pages

    In 1932, Aldous Huxley imagined and wrote about a world where designer baby technology is prevalent in his science-fiction novel, Brave New World. The technology would not come until many years later, but his ideas still hold up today. In the book, there were different classes depending on how genetically modified one was, including Alpha or Beta (“The Public Should Oppose Designer Baby Technology”). Outside of science fiction, though, is real science where an actual baby can be genetically modified before even being born. A designed baby is one that is purposefully shaped to be one way or another through processes including In Vitro Fertilization (IVF), where an egg is fertilized and genetically altered, and preimplantation genetic diagnosis

    Read More

  • Summary: The Ethical Dilemma Of Designer Babies

    1192 Words  | 5 Pages

    I am not comfortable with the idea of creating designer babies- we do not know what else this could lead to. Knoepfler states, “We should not allow creating genetically modified people,because it 's just too dangerous and too unpredictable.” From the Natural Law perspective, it is interfering with the natural and beautiful process of creating life. It is humans trying to play God.

    Read More

More about Genetic Selection In The Film 'Gattaca'

Open Document