Designer Babies and Prisonz

The reason this is devastatingly late is because I was at a debate tournament that lasted till today, and we were in late elims (yay!) so I didn’t really have the chance to do this till now (boo).


I was interested in the link between the genetics of sin questions raised by the prisons group and the “designing” parts of designer babies. The prisons group examined the “origins” of criminal behavior and discussed theories that some individuals are born genetically predisposed to be violent. These ideas also reminded me of the eugenics tree on the designer babies poster and some of the questions raised about the future of genetic testing–will we try and create perfect kids? If we can isolate a gene for violence, can we then remove it using the same technology for eliminating certain genetic diseases? Both of the genetic components of the projects (crime theories, arguments on/about the genetic tree) are based on the idea that we are separate from culture, violence (for example) is not a product of someone’s upbringing or the media or whatever, but something they are predisposed to. We are born who we are going to become kind of thing, ala Pinker. This was not as apparent in the designer babies group, but I think part of the concerns raised over designs is not just that we can physically mold children but control how they turn out by manipulating genes. I think it is uniquely interesting with designing children’s personalities–if we accept that we are cultural subjects, that you can teach a child not to be violent or act a certain way, we are encouraged to do it. So, if we are not, or discover that this “parenting lessons” are actually determined by genes, why can we not control it that way as well?

I think the desirability of this brings up questions of control over bodies/life in general. Suppose a link is discovered between extreme violence and a certain gene. Should people who carry it be forbidden from reproducing (on the basis that it saves more lives/trouble later on?). Or, should we develop tech to remove said gene–design a baby to avoid crime. If we can design a baby to avoid crime, can we design them to do other things? Be talented in a certain way? Should these things even be regulated? Government over sexual/reproductive practices was something I explored in my groups presentation on Incest, and I think the issues there are similar to those in Prisons/designer babies. If a brother and sister having sex necessarily results in a problematic genetic mutations (questionable..) should they be forbidden from reproducing? I say no, but maybe the situation changes with criminality. Are their situations mandating designing babies could be good? Unsure.