We had this topic in Highschool, we discussed it sooo much. But here are some pros and cons of "Designer Babies" I remember.

Pros

• Prevents genetic diseases such as Down Syndrome, Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s Disease, Spinal Muscular Atrophy, and many others.

• Reduces risk of inherited medical conditions such as obesity, anemia, diabetes, cancer, and many more.

• Allows parents to give their child a better shot at a healthy lifestyle.

• Genetically engineering babies is an option, not a requirement for all parents.

• Children are already engineered by parents in many ways. Prenatal supplements, education, religion, and morals are all ways parents alter their child.

• Parents would be able to set their own limits for genetically engineering their baby.

• A complete ban will cause people to seek out unauthorized geneticists or go overseas to receive treatment.

• The Government does not have the right to control reproduction.

• Some environmental factors are inevitable so preventative measures should be taken as well.

• Ethical view points should not cease the advancement of technology.

Cons

•The technology used is only in the experimental stages at this point.

• This technology may be used for superficial purposes such as purposely selecting eye or hair color.

• A gap in society could be created. This could create classes that distinguish designer babies from those that are not.

• it is unknown how genetically modifying babies will affect the gene pool. Most people will choose to have good-looking, intelligent babies which could lead to a lack of genetic diversity. A lack of genetic diversity has been shown to lead to defects and other problems.

• An embryo cannot consent to having its body altered.

• Genes often have more than one use. Therefore altering a gene could have adverse or even fatal effects.

• Other children in the family could be impacted by the parent's decision.

• The process of genetically engineering a child is expensive.

• Current techniques of genetic modification introduce genes at random places in the genome, which could disrupt the function of another gene crucial for survival.