Baby Eye and Hair Color Selection

[article taken from www.suffolkjournal.net ]

"On Monday, the Los Angeles based Fertility Institutes announced on their website that they would soon be offering patients the option of selecting the hair, eye color, and skin tone of their children. The title of the release read: "PREDICTIVE GENOMICS TO BE AVAILABLE: Eye color, hair color, cancer tendency and more. Limitations apply. New!" The New York Times, Los Angeles Times and most other major news sources picked up the story, resulting in public outcry. On Tuesday, March 3, the Fertility Institutes released a new statement on their website saying that the eye and hair color program had been suspended and that they would no longer "be investigating the genetics of pigmentation of any body structures."

Before we automatically admonish those who would have us all become genetically designed, we should consider why that prospect is so distasteful. The reason is often given that if we unlock all the secrets of the genetic code, new and exacting forms of discrimination would arise. Humans would no longer be judged by the content of their character, but rather that of their DNA. Nevertheless, new anti-discrimination legislation would have to be discovered. Some would argue that we must not allow humans to be designed to be spectacularly brilliant or athletic, giving them an unfair advantage over the "normal" humans.

The real problem with genetically designing individuals is not in the domain of discrimination or socio-economic disadvantage. The problem is that it fundamentally alters the pattern of human existence as our collective unconscious has come to understand it over the last 200,000 years of existence. Each individual has always thought there was something mysterious and magical about the way that they came into being. They would look up at the night sky and see the stars and have a vague understanding of that great infiniteness that was within their soul and the sky. They shared similar characteristics to their family and tribe members, but they were still unique and had been made into their own particular form by some unknown, hidden process.

There is an old saying, "that's just how God made me." There is also a song in which John Lennon sings, "I'm just a child of nature." If our parents had decided to design our every feature, would we still say these things? We might try, but we would not be able to shake the feeling that we are a child of the Fertility Institutes and head gene selector Dr. Jeffrey Steinberg. It would be too harsh of us to say that no parents are allowed to have their embryos screened for cancer and cystic fibrosis genes, but we must not be afraid to say no to hair and eye color. Fearing bad press, the Fertility Institute has suspended their trait selection service for now. The next clinic that develops the technique may not have as much to lose, and then it will not be long before it is accepted. We need to make a definitive statement against progress for progress' sake and not be afraid to use non-scientific, non-economic language to express our distaste against the scientists."

http://media.www.suffolkjournal.net/media/storage/paper632/news/2009/03/05/Opinion/The-Fertility.Institute.The.Life.Or.Death.Of.The.Human.Being-3662418.shtml?refsource=collegeheadlines

I was thinking a bit about massing around
that way but looking at if from that angle yea it not right. thats trying to be God him /her self

they cancelled the program earlier this week due to public outrage. i dont agree with this because of potential risks for the child and the social issues the child may face (black kid with straight blonde hair blue eyes *shudders*).

The whole thought about playing God doesnt really matter since we do it all the time when curing people and no one ever complains.

That can be argued that God gave us the knowledge to cure diseases. He did not, however, grant us the ability to pick, choose and refuse what you're child should look like. That is a result of something we should never understand.

*hates arguments that have a religeous basis*

We have sex in condoms, doing so prevents a child from being born from an action that would normally do so. Now, does that mean we play God almost every time we have sex? for i see that as more immoral due to the fact that youre playing with a life being born or not.

I don't think it is. If we all had kids every time we had sex the world would be overpopulated and there would be financial strain on families and some other negative stuff. We're supposed to be fruitful and multiply...responsibly. But that is just my opinion and could be gravely wrong.

I hate religious arguments too especially since they're all based on opinion. No one can say for sure whose opinion is right or wrong, and to call someone else's opinion wrong just because of differences is disrespectful (unless it's really stupid). Oh well...guess all we can do is agree to disagree.