By: Molly Rawls. This new technology is called pre- implantation genetic diagnosis or PGD. This was created to screen for diseases, then later it started.

By: Molly Rawls

This new technology is called pre-implantation genetic diagnosis or PGD. This was created to screen for diseases, then later it started to be used for gender selection. Now the plan is to allow parents to select physical traits of their unborn child.

“a baby whose genetic makeup has been artificially selected by genetic engineering combined with in vitro fertilization to ensure the presence or absence of particular genes or characteristics.”

-Oxford English Dictionary

A woman’s eggs are fertilized with sperm in a lab. A cell is then removed from each embryo and tested for a certain genetic disease, gender and the biomarkers associated with the desired traits. Embryos free of the disease, or holding the desired traits, are implanted in the mother’s womb.

Having a baby has always been sort of a guessing game I suppose you could say, because until just a few years ago, making a baby boy or a baby girl was entirely up to fate. Crazy enough this is not the case anymore. The lucky parents who have contact to the latest genetic testing techniques can now predetermine their baby's gender and this is actually quit reliable.

This is something that will appear as an important political issue, this is because competing values, like individual independence and social fairness.

"All screening is morally unacceptable. It is discriminating against life that is regarded as less than perfect. Children should be accepted absolutely for what they are in themselves, not for what use they can be put to.“ -The pro-life group Life 

"You have a child at home that is very seriously ill and you see the pain and agony and know there is a simple treatment out there that will relieve this condition. If it is okay for this child or that child how can you deny it to other people?" Taranissi asked

I believe this is only the beginning. Apparently within a decade or two, it may be possible to screen kids almost before conception for an great range of attributes. For instance, how tall they're likely to be, what body type they will have, their hair and eye color, what sorts of illnesses they will may have to deal with, and even, their IQ and personality type.

http://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/?article=861

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,989987,00.html

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/03/03/earlyshow/health/main4840346.shtml

http://www.actionbioscience.org/biotech/agar.html

http://erlc.com/article/a-new-pro-life-battle-designer-babies/

http://www.lifenews.com/2004/07/20/bio-391/