Babies by Dolce and Gabbana

About IVF and PGD

Wouldn't it be nice for a baby to have perfect teeth, hair, nose, and eyes. Well now with advanced genetic screening and In Vitro Fertilization it is now possible to have the perfect baby with no health complications and you can even choose hair and eye color. Even though the option is there to design your own baby, many do not choose this path because it is unethical and unnatural.

These 'test tube' or 'designer' babies are created by using Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis and In Vitro fertilization. PGD (pre implantation genetic diagnosis) is done before In Vitro fertilization. The fertile egg is extracted from the mother and is examined to determine whether the egg is healthy or not. In the worst of cases the eggs that are defective or have serious disorders are replaced, but usually the defective gene is isolated and removed.

If the syndrome is sex linked, e.g., hemophilia then the egg is replaced with a female egg. This is to make sure that the baby does not develop any serious health complications. Not only is the female egg examined, the sperm also as to go through the same inspection process as the egg. If there are any 'bad' sperm, it gets isolated to avoid any contamination to the 'perfect' egg.

Once the egg and sperm have been thoroughly examined and checked for any possible problems, the egg will then be fertilized. The egg and sperm are left to fertilize for 4-5 days, it is then when the egg has turned into an embryo. After the waiting period the newly fertilized egg (embryo) gets re-implanted back into the mother, from then the embryo is carried in mother until full term.

Are designer babies unethical?

Genetic selection and In Vitro is only ethical for those who really want children but can't conceive naturally, also it is for people who carry recessive genes that cause deforming and life threatening diseases. IVF and PGD is life saving when it is used to prevent 'defective babies', yet there is a fine line between acceptable and unethical. For those who are using IVF and PGD to 'modify' the looks of their baby, it is extremely unethical. Yet, today IVF and PGD are becoming increasingly more popular because of its uses.

However, unless there is a legitimate reason for using IVG and PGD, I still believe that babies should represent the parents who created him/her. If the babies are designed by their parents, there won't be any surprises when the baby is born. The parents will know the eye colour, the sex, and the physical features of the baby. Before these 'designer babies' existed, parents looked forward to seeing their children for the first time. Now with designer babies, there isn't a surprise of whether the baby is girl or a boy. For some that is a good thing, but to me its unethical. Unless there is a legitimate reason such as genetic defects, IVF and PGD is unethical and shouldn't be used.

Sources:

"Fighting for in Vitro Fertilization in Canada." CBC Archives. Web. 15 Dec. 2010. .

By, Park/New York, and Thompson/Washington. "Designer Babies - TIME." Breaking News, Analysis, Politics, Blogs, News Photos, Video, Tech Reviews - TIME.com. Web. 26 Nov. 2010. .

"Ivf-infertility.com | Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD)." Ivf-infertility.com | Infertility, IVF and More. Web. 26 Nov. 2010.

Images:

http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTYk1sKEsFJWZGLtkR0Anz7I_uo7kcYl9k2IoD1whWbmPxqMA5rrQ

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcysU8zja7Ohm4HPf0ExbTbo9SPVzSi2gOPiTz893Z6tVbKDRUI30R9Yrsk3w4qkk8mIZUcdcx0ePgoAiQ5z-dshF7OjPMZemzNHikcSIJNtVYVGtetC3dewnL7eKSzfbvNC3CbLr2SPTl/s320/designer+babies.jpg

Commented on:

Debbie Lee

Natasha Richichi-Fried

Save the Giant Pandas!!!

Giant Pandas have always been an endangered animal because of over harvesting of bamboo. Bamboo is a extremely popular plant because of its tough exterior and its ability to be used for anything. Uses of bamboo range from scaffolding to flooring. The use for bamboo is endless.

Unfortunately the wild life of where the bamboo is exists is being affected, Pandas have been starving because they can't find enough bamboo eat. Humans are harvesting bamboo so quickly that it can't even grown fast enough. Therefore, bamboo will have preserved if we want pandas to live.

Pandas are also being forced out of their homes because of over population in China. Urbanization has taken a huge affect on China for the past 10 years, buildings and factories seem to pop out everywhere every 5 seconds. According to the WWF, some areas of China have
bamboo belts no more than 1.2 km wide.

But even though there are less than 1600 Pandas in 2004, more than 50 reserves have been established in China to repopulate the Giant Panda. China has realized the many problems that have caused the Giant Panda to be almost extinct. In 1998, China created a ban of deforestation to sustain bamboo for the Panda. The deforestation ban helped Panda reserves to sustain the population and start repopulating the endangered animal. Ever since the deforestation ban, the Panda population has somewhat started to increase, but without human intervention it would be nearly impossible to repopulate the Giant panda.


By just enforcing a deforestation ban is simply not enough, instead the Chinese government as well as the WWF are uniting the Pandas dispersed in more than 20 habitats. Some Pandas are extremely lonely and don't have any friends to play with, and this is because roads, farms, and cities are blocking them from seeing each other. By putting the Panda zones closer to each other, they are able to mate as well as being able to socialize, which makes for a much happier Panda bear. Bamboo corriders are put in to guide Pandas to the 20 different habitats, which basically means they get to socialize.

Fulfilling a Panda is not very difficult according to the WWF, a Panda is happy with two simple things. A Panda friend as well as bamboo to feast on. Not that hard to please, right?

Bottom line, I think that humans have done a great deal for the panda bear and we should continue with our efforts. In fact, the Toronto Zoo is trying to get a pair of pandas from China to boost its tourists numbers as well as to help repopulate the fluffy black and white bear. In Canada, it is much more suitable to raise pandas. (Keep in mind this is my opinion only.) This is because its cooler in the summer and winter months, as well as having ample space for the pandas to play.

Work cited list:

Mid-2005, By. "WWF - Giant Panda." WWF - WWF. Web. 09 Oct. 2010. http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/giant_panda/

"WWF - Fragmented and Isolated." WWF - WWF. Web. 09 Oct. 2010. http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/giant_panda/problems/fragmentation/
Bamboo picture courtesy of:
http://blog.builddirect.com/greenbuilding/19_uses_bamboo/

Panda picture courtesy of:
http://assets.panda.org/img/31203_237416.jpg

"WWF - What Is a Corridor?" WWF - WWF. Web. 09 Oct. 2010. <http://www.blogger.com/%22WWF%20-%20What%20Is%20a%20Corridor?

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