Would you genetically augment your children?

[Thundercrack85]

Bioethics have been in the news lately, and it inevitably brings up this subject. The automatic answer seems to be no. Ethics and all that (designer babies). But I do wonder. Given a choice, would you genetically enhance your children?

Give them a high IQ, immune to most diseases, make them athletic, etc.

 

[Lighthouse]

If I had the resources.....I have to admit I probably would.

 

[Duran Man]

Of course!

 

[bullets]

I would consider it. The method would have to be proven safe though.

 

[kedrell]

Sure, I always wanted to raise a little Khan.

 

[Doctor Evo]

It would depend upon the nature of the "enhancement." It seems to me that genetic modifications that are not superficial in nature could be potentially dangerous.

 

[Anita18]

You never get something for nothing. That's all I have to say about that.

 

[Piper Maru]

I'd like to have shoehorn hands.

 

[Spuzz]

Short answer: Yes. But what augmentation to choose...

 

[enterthemadness]

Bioethics have been in the news lately, and it inevitably brings up this subject. The automatic answer seems to be no. Ethics and all that (designer babies). But I do wonder. Given a choice, would you genetically enhance your children?

Give them a high IQ, immune to most diseases, make them athletic, etc.

-_- this is highly immoral so I should say nooooooooooo.


but I would make my kids better than me, but give them wizard powers. No, X-Men powers. Singing ability, no speech problem, higher I.Q., and super powers.

Oh, and when they get mad or upset, I would give them the ability to change their eyes to demon red. But when happy, their eyes be like icy blue. and, eh, they be mutants.

 

[Doctor Evo]

Why is it immoral?

 

[enterthemadness]

Why is it immoral?

cause we would be THE GODS! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA....-_-.

 

[Immortalfire]

You're so preoccupied with whether or not you could, you don't stop to think if you should.

Anyhow, Federation law strictly prohibits genetic augmentation.

 

[Erzengel]

Short answer: Yes. But what augmentation to choose...

Your children wouldn't have asked for this.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

Cybernetic enhancements FTW.

It will ensure my kid is better at math and sports.

Think of all the trophies he will win. Maybe he could get an endorsement contract from the cybernetics company. I would be so proud of my genetic offspring, well partially anyway.

 

[NickNitro]

I would only genetically alter my children so they wouldnt have to deal with genetic health issues such as something like a low metabolism/acne/heart disease/etc. I wouldn't like to change anything else.

 

[Breogan]

First the rich will do it, some in secret eventually unapologeticlly, to insure their designer kids have a step up. These designer kids will be the ideal fawned over by society in the media.
Any un-enhanced kids pressured and taunted by society will blame their parents for their genetic physical and mental "weaknesses/shortcomings"
Any who abstain on outdated moral grounds will be marginalized by society as backwards, weak, ugly , dumb and creatures of the past.
When it's finally affordable everyone will start doing it. just so their kids can compete in a world that caters to those enhancement ideals now shared by most.
Eventually everything looks, intelligence, height, race, etc culminating in one homogenized gender as none will want to have their kid being discriminated against or be biased on one over the other, so they'll all be born with both genders, i.e there won't be gender, it will be a non issue.
A generation will be born where all humans will be so genetically similar pulling from the same idealizes stock, that breeding will disintegrate as there will be no variety of genetic information being exchanged. The equivalent of over-interbreeding.
Goodbye human race.
With the ability to reproduce destroyed, cloning becomes the norm, and we have a society of a same self replicating hermaphrodites.

Congratulations, the perfect human cockroach....

fyi amalgamation of Will Smith, Brad Pitt/Tom Cruise and Angelina Jolie.

 

[Quasimod0]

Nope

 

[Breogan]

Sure, I always wanted to raise a little Khan.

Something that always bugged me about the 80's movie is that for the original 60's TV series, Khan a Hispanic guy playing an idealized Sikh with a crew that was equally diverse, mostly implied by name; Otto, Joaquin, Kati, Rodriguez, Ling, McPherson, some of those listed, and visually. Like in the 60's they went out of their way to show actual variety would be the forward thinking ideal in the future.
Then in the 80's for some reason in the movie they all suddenly became strictly Nordic looking, the new (old) ideal?

Was this just a choice of the director, did they think modern audiences wouldn't get the idea of genetic enhancements unless they all looked scandinavian or northern european?

Seems like 60s Trek was more forward thinking than 80s Trek.

 

[NickNitro]

I agree, everyone will just look the same. With the infatuation with Hollywoods fake ideal male and female image, everyone will want their kids to look that way. Eventually we'll all just look exactly the same and dating wont be as fun

 

[Bim]

Nope, i wouldnt.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gattaca

 

[Duke]

I absolutely wouldn't.

 

[Pink Ranger]

You're so preoccupied with whether or not you could, you don't stop to think if you should.

Anyhow, Federation law strictly prohibits genetic augmentation.

You and your damnable Federation, so bubbly and cloying and happy.

 

[Nathan]

I would only strengthen the immune system. Everything else should be acquired through hard work.