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As shown in the video above recent experiments claim that two babies have been born that were genetically engineered to resist HIV infection. Should this or any similar genetic modifications (which can be passed from generation to generation unlike standard gene therapy such as the one used to treat the woman with the vision problems ) be allowed for humans?
“Gene surgery is and should remain a technology for healing.”
I believe that if we as a society are using genetic modifications for a good purpose, then it could actually be extremely beneficial. Knowing that we could stop a whole fatal disease in its tracks is so interesting, yet scary. I say this because not everyone in this world is good, and not everyone would want to use this for a good purpose and/or reason. We talked about genetic modification in one of my bioethics classes at Michigan State, and how we could use it for things such as basically designing your own baby. Hair color, eye color, height, etc. I think that form of genetic modification is extremely dangerous. I also think that the diversity we all show is what makes the world beautiful. Allowing genetic modification to become common can help us prevent disease, but we also do not know the amount of things it can start. We also have to take into account people or families that could not afford genetic modification. If we want this to be a good thing for our communities, and help us stop disease, etc, then it would need to be available for EVERYONE, otherwise it will not work and there is no point. This is why I think it would open doors for other un-expecting situations. Genetic modification for humans would be beneficial if it was extremely controlled and unbelievably accessible.
I have no issue with using this technology as described in the video. It is an effective way to prevent a harmful disease. We already use various methods of disease prevention in health care. It would be wise to halt diseases before they arise. I more so understand the ethical dilemma when talking about making “designer babies”, but even then I do not mind. People already change various aspects of themselves such as in cosmetic surgeries.
I do believe that genetic modification surgeries like the one shown in the video should be allowed for humans. As stated in the video this should be used limitedly to help a small number of families where a gene surgery could save a child from a lethal genetic disease that medicine may not be able to prevent. There should obviously be appropriate guidelines around it so that people cannot just get the gene modification surgery to change physical features like hair and eye color as I can imagine there are also significant risks involved in this type of surgery but if it can prevent a child of life-long pain and suffering than I think it would be worth it. You would have to determine with your doctor on a case by case basis if the risk of doing this surgery would outweigh the bad.
These genetic modifications should be allowed, but if someone is allowed they should be informed about the risks as well. There are some benefits of this to stop certain diseases. The gene surgery was performed to remove the gene responsible for HIV infection, and now the girls are healthy.
This surgery was very life changing and helped Mark start a family. There was some panic about this, but if it means they they can live at peace of not getting inherited diseases, it can help them. The technology can be used for good such as to be more healthy and to prevent diseases but not for IQ or eye color.
I believe genetic engineering could be acceptable as a way to treat harmful diseases. It holds the potential for benefits similar to those we’ve seen from vaccines, such as the eradication of smallpox. If modern medicine can help prevent a potential life of despair, it could be a step forward for society. However, it’s essential to note that vaccines and genetic modifications, such as those using CRISPR, are fundamentally different: vaccines trigger an immune response, while CRISPR directly alters DNA. Thus, while the potential for benefit exists, it could also go too far without restrictions and regulations. To make this topic less controversial and ensure responsible progress, extensive scientific, ethical, and societal discussion and strict regulations are required before we make such a significant leap in modern medicine.
I believe genetic modifications should be allowed if they can heal and prevent people from suffering lifelong diseases. The potential benefits of such genetic interventions are undeniable, as they hold the possibility of eliminating hereditary illnesses that would otherwise impact every aspect of an individual’s life. By enabling resistance to life-threatening diseases like HIV, these genetic modifications could spare future generations from social stigmatization and reduced quality of life. However, I believe that any decision to allow such modifications should be evaluated with extreme caution, along with strong ethical standards, and extensive scientific evaluation to ensure the safety and long-term implications for society as a whole. By having open discussions and proper rules, we can use this amazing tool to make life better for everyone. If we approach it wisely and responsibly, genetic modifications could become a powerful tool for healing and transforming lives, improving the well-being of countless individuals and generations to come.
I think that genetic modification surgeries such as those described in the video should be allowed in certain instances and in modification. I believe this should be used only when necessary, and when it will cause more benefit than harm, and potentially save someones life or greatly improve their quality of life. Having the ability to stop a disease before it is able to take over would be very beneficial especially if there are no medications available to treat a disease. I also believe it is important for all involved to understand the risks at hand. Overall, I believe this kind of technology should be allowed for humans as it can prevent intense suffering, and give someone the healing that other methods of medicine cannot give them.
I believe this is a great idea! There are many of heartbreaks that could be fixed with a simple “genetic surgery.” I think a lot of families could benefit from this, especially those who already have a hard time conceiving a baby. On the same note, I think there should be some “laws,” rather maybe some guidelines of what can and cannot be done. When I say this I mean, without guidelines, there is a risk of unintended and harmful genetic changes in the fetus or future generations. Proper regulations can help minimize risks and ensure the safety of individuals involved. All in all, I believe this is the right idea, as long as morals and ethicals are put first.
I believe that the process that was shown in this video is very benifical this could lead to much more then just fixing hiv and aids pregncy it could potentially prevent every and all disease that are transmitted sexually. it could maybe fix infertiliy but i dont know to what extent it might fix it for then upcoming generations overall this video is a great thing and should be kept in reaserch
I believe that genetic modification surgeries should be allowed in most cases. There are a multitude of benefits and I think that they outweigh the negatives. It could prevent many children from inheriting terrible genetic diseases, potentially saving their lives or their families from suffering. It gives more options to those with genetic conditions wishing to have children. Even though allowing genetic modifications can provide a lot of benefits to our society, there are still some downsides though. Its uncertain how safe the prodecure is, unintended affects could happen to other genes. It also opens pandora’s box with the potential to engineer enhanced humans, and we could see a new form of inequality between those with and without modifications. Overall, I think it should be allowed, but laws need to be in place to specify how it can be used.
My answer is yes, it should be allowed for humans. The idea of genetically modifying humans, at it’s core, is very straightforward, but it’s the ethics and morals that make it a nuanced concept. Scientists have been able to modify genes in some experiments, like the case of babies resistant to HIV- and if such is the case, obviously it’s better to eradicate or prevent diseases entirely before they execute what they do to harm the human body, but I also believe that there may be more consequences than what’s known so far, since there’s no way tampering with DNA is that simple, right?
As far as the ethical concerns go, I’m aware that designer babies are a concern, with the use of gene editing for things like choosing certain traits in babies, which is ethically really… gray? It’s not as if these babies don’t deserve to be alive or exist, and it will always come down to “if you have the money to do it, who’s stopping you?”, but tampering with DNA to alter the outcome of a child does feel quite strange. Personally, if it were me and I were a designer baby, I fear I would be unsure if my parents would have valued me the same if I wasn’t born as a designer baby- but I digress.
We have to consider the effects on the natural diversity of humans, tampering with genes would likely change that (considering that designer babies are largely customized on physical traits and appearance from what I’ve seen, and since the beauty standard is largely westernized, the loss of ethnic features may be an actual issue). But, between the designer baby discourse and literally preventing generational diseases and disorders, and literally eliminating them from the gene pool, I think gene editing can do way more good than harm. But of course, there are still a lot of unknowns, and caution must be exerted when it comes to making decisions about altering human genes, and of course, there need to be a set guideline to follow should gene editing become a routine part of medicine.
I think this is a good idea because it could prevent the spread of certain lifelong diseases. The video mention HIV, this process could help with other diseases such as cystic fibrosis. However, with this type of genetic modification and could cause some ethical and moral problems such as people trying to make the “perfect human”. If this this type of genetic modifications is only used for things such as diseases I think it would be revolutionary.
I believe that genetic modification should be allowed to treat or prevent genetic disorders when it would lead to positive outcomes. It is clear that when it works, genetic modification that deals with genetic disorders does have the ability to change people’s lives for the better. I think that it is and could continue to be a useful method of treatment. However, I do think that there are many risks involved in this because I feel that humans have the tendency to take things too far. I think that genetic modification has the potential to become dangerous if people begin to use it more than is necessary. There are definitely many risks involved.
Knowing that there is still much to learn about the human genome, scientists along with world leaders should take heavy caution and avoid editing the genome of fetuses until learning about the hidden consequences of the CRISPR-Cas9 system. The genome can be compared to an entire ocean, and since we’re unfamiliar with the entirety of it, massive precautions should be taken to avoid catastrophic damage. For example, many farmers in Brazil burn vast regions of the Amazon Rainforest to clear more land for cattle knowing little about how destroying 20% of the Amazon can affect the rainforest’s water cycle and cause the entire rainforest to collapse. This in turn leads to the decaying of organic matter and the release of carbon into the atmosphere which later dissolves into the oceans leading to its acidification and this destroys oceanic ecosystems. Like dominos falling over, the farmers wouldn’t be able to grasp how catastrophic their actions are until it is too late. This holds true with the human genome. Many scientists have yet to fully understand just how interconnected the genome is much like how many Brazilian farmers don’t understand the relation between the Amazon and the ocean. With the information we hold today, there’s no telling how altering a specific pathway could affect genes in an allegedly different genetic pathway
When it comes to genetic engineering as a tool for medicine, I am hesitant to say if it should be allowed or not. Now, ideally it would be amazing to help individuals and families with the various issues that they face, whether that is preventing HIV, cystic fibrosis or even sickle cell anemia. In a perfect world this is achievable however, it isn’t that simple, there are important things to think about regarding the allowance of medicinal genetic engineering or even its non-therapeutic uses. For one, we must consider the implications of changing a part of someone’s genome, not only could mutations stem from this, but it could potentially create problems in future generations. Additionally, how accessible would this medical technology be? Will it be another advancement for those who can afford it, and if it is, how does it play out? Do the less fortunate keep getting sick and fall behind designer babies increasing the already prevalent socioeconomic gap? These are things to consider.
This genetic modification and similar ones should be used if applicable for certain families. The gene surgery is a form of healing for genetic diseases. This makes the surgery a possible form of medicine for genetic disease. If this type of surgery becomes more common, guidelines would need to be put in place to prevent the creation of ‘designer babies’. For parents that have or are carriers of different genetic diseases genetic modifications such as the HIV one can greatly help their family by preventing the expression of those diseases.
I believe that this is a good idea. If we can prevent any sort of health risk before it get to the human then there should be no real reason why it shouldn’t be allowed. Though there are risk as there is for everything there is some real opportunities for gene modification.
If I am being completely honest, I think these kinds of surgeries can pose huge moral dilemmas. If I am looking at this from sheerly an objective side, I think that these procedures could be very helpful in the medical field and in preventative care. Preventing the passage of disease is always beneficial, but like I said, could pose moral dilemmas if this kind of technology is used for commercial benefits, such as designing the perfect child. While ideally, this sounds like the perfect solution to genetic diseases, I think that this technology would move commercially too quickly.
I find this technology incredibly promising for families with disease-causing genetic mutations as it offers the opportunity to end the disease within the family in just one generation. However, it is a slippery slope when deciding which procedures are ethical and where to draw that line. If strict parameters were in place to keep this technology for use solely with editing disease-causing genetic mutations, with cost and access making this advancement available for all and not just the elite, I think it offers a fantastic advancement in preventative healthcare. However, more often than not greed and corporations take over and that is a recipe for disaster when talking about the ability to engineer humans.
This topic is very controversial due to the fact that it is not black and white on what is acceptable. Obviously in the case of HIV or Blindness, most people could see that allowing children to live normal functioning lives would be a great use of gene therapy. I personally believe in such cases where normal functioning can be returned or the person can be brought closer to it should be allowed. In cases where people want to modify their child’s genes so that they have naturally blond hair, are 6ft 4″ tall, are more type IIx fibers than Type I, etc is the wrong way of utilizing gene therapy. This topic has endless avenues of debate because if we really look at it wholistically we could argue how ethical plastic surgery is. It is the same as gene therapy in terms of designer people, just a different means. The argument of playing God is out of the debate as well because in everything we do throughout history, invention of tools, medicine, etc, is playing God. To bring all of my thoughts together I do believe that utilizing gene therapy is a case by case decision, but should be focused on bringing people to normal functioning rather than creating designer babies.
I think it could go both ways. It can be extremely helpful in certain cases such as ridding the possibility of a harmful disease, however I believe it would be case by case. Just as any other health debate. Some people think that one thing may be helpful/beneficial while others may believe that the same thing will be harmful or it goes against their morals. Personally, I think it should be allowed because it may help future generations, but again, I think it is a very debatable topic.
I, like many of my classmates easily see the good in being able to use genetic modification to stop genetic disease before it starts, while recognizing that there are some sinister applications for this technology as well. What this really makes me think about is how we could go about governing such a thing? The ethics of genetic engineering of humans is going to invite lots of differing opinions all based on different moral philosophies and I simply cannot fathom how a governing body would go about regulating this. I also wonder if we could depend on our current institutions to prevent this being utilized in a way that increases divides between socio-economic groups.
I believe there should be limits in which whole exome sequencing or genetic enegineering should be used. The way this technique is used in the video provided, is a great way that this type of technology should be used. For the healing, prevention and protection of humans rather for cosmetic, selfish, greedy reasons. Genetic modification is still a fairly new technique and still very dangerous, so if this technique should be used, if should be for something lifesaving or for absolutely nesscessary reasons.