Monica Hannah

1. Designer Babies
Hannah Lildharrie & Monica
Moser Period 3 and 8

2. Basic Principles of Genetics
1. How are traits controlled by dominant and recessive alleles?
A dominate allele always show up in an organism when the allele is
present.
A recessive allele, on the other hand, is masked when ever the dominant
allele is present.
A trait controlled by a recessive allele will only show up if the organism
does not have the dominate allele.
2. How are traits controlled with co- dominant alleles?
For some alleles, an inheritance pattern called co-dominance exists.
In co-dominance, the alleles are neither dominate or recessive.
As a result neither allele is masked in the offspring.
3. Explain how the alleles of the parents combine to express traits in offspring?
Geneticists use Punnett square to show all possible outcomes of a
genetic cross and to determine the probability of a particular outcome.

3. Human Genome Project
The Human Genome Project started in 1990 and scientists want to use the information
based on this project to find cures for sexually transmitted diseases or cancer.
The main goal of the project is to identify the DNA Sequence of every gene in the
human genome.
The implications of the Human Genome Project Ethically are mixed, some are for
Designer Babies, some are against it.
Legally, the president, congress and the Supreme court had to see if the new project
was okay enough to start.
The social implications of the Human Genome project are mixed, some people think
that the designer babies are posthumans, when some think they are people too.
The Human Genome Project changed current genetic laws because of the need to
look at a human genome.

4. Genetic Disorders
A single gene disorder is a mutation that occurs inside a single gene.(i.e. Cystic
fibrosis)
A chromosome abnormality is a disorder in which there is more or less chromosomes
in a gene. (i.e. Down syndrome)
A multifactorial disorder is a disorder in which diseases are related to environmental
factors. (i.e. Heart Disease)
Genetic counseling offers invaluable information to people whose unborn children
are at risk for certain genetic diseases and birth defects—either before they are
expecting or once they become pregnant.
Genetic counseling offers invaluable information to people whose unborn
children are at risk for certain genetic diseases and birth defects—either before
they are expecting or once they become pregnant.
A karyotype can reveal whether a developing baby has the correct number of
chromosomes in it’s cell.
Also, whether it’s a boy or girl.

5. Here is a video on designer babies!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fSCOZuHcdg

6. Argument 1 & 2: CON!
I think we shouldn’t have designer babies. One reason is because it would be less
expensive to have a baby the old fashion way (the way we do today) then having to
pay a lot of money to choose what traits they have. Just think the amount of money
it would cost to have a child that you picked out. It might be like having a “perfect
child.” But what happened to liking a person for whom he or she was. It would be
unethical to change the personality of a person, to adjust to your own wants. I think
you should love a person for who they were. There own genetic outcome.
The basic idea of heredity is better than choosing what you want your baby look
like, because by not choosing then the baby is more related to the parents then if
you don’t pass on the genes for that trait. One thing special about having a child is
“a little replica of themselves.” Most of the time when people see their children
there is a family resemblance.

7. Argument 3 & 4: PRO!
I think we should have designer babies. If we were able to design our own
babies we would be able to decide what sort of illnesses they will be naturally
resistant to. This would be good because then we could be healthy and be
resistant to all or almost all of the illnesses. To be able to protect people from
the genetic mutations in the DNA would be a huge accomplishment.
If we did have designer babies then you would at least have what you want for a
child. It would almost be like having a perfect child! You also would know before
what gender it was and what it would look like this would be good for naming the
child. Sometimes parents’ name their child after it was born so they could tell
what it looks like; for example a Taylor, Hannah, Cordelia ext.

8. Argument 5 & 6: CON!
By having a designer baby everyone might look the same. Think about it; if everyone
wanted a child that was tall then everyone would be tall. Or if everyone wanted to
have a high IQ, not that this is not good but when something new is invented then it
wouldn’t be a great achievement. We might never be unique with some traits. There
also could be a possibility that two or more people could look the same! Maybe not
exactly the same but you could have a child that looks like a another child from
another mother. It wouldn’t be like a twin but a friend that looks the same!

9. Argument 7 & 8: PRO!
An important pro of the new invention is that you can choose what your child
will look like before you have it. Like, you can choose its eye color, hair color
and all of its physical attributes. The whole process is Genetic Engineering.
Another pro for designer babies is that you don’t have to worry about particular
trait being passed down for example a trait for cancer. By doing this geneticist
won’t have to use a Pedigree.

10. Conclusion
My closing argument is that I am part for, part
against Designer Babies and that through this
research, it helps back up arguments about the
pros and cons of the newest study. Many people
think it is unnatural to do this because it wouldn't
really have the same eyes as you, or be even
technically yours. The heredity would be
different. However, some people are excited to
find out that we have this kind of technology to
do this kind of research. They think that it is a
next step to advanced genetic research and a
whole new era in genetics.

11. A Poll on Designer Babies
41% furious
24% thrilled
12% laughing
12% sad
6% intrigued
6% bored

12. Works Cited
http://www.georgetownuniversityhospital.org/body.cfm?id=556426
http://www.nbclosangeles.com/the-scene/archive/Designer-Baby-Poll-Reveals-
Most-Popular-Skin-Eye-Colors--.html
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZssIigFZAfy_MT0UntGsPDJJ7O9feZa6mpcGZQCDD40/edit?
hl=en#