Gene editing is a slippery slope

Imagine living in a world where parents could modify their baby’s DNA and make it so that they turn out a certain way. Now, imagine that baby being you. What if that kind of power got in the wrong hands? Some people will want to use it for selfish reasons or wanting to use it for control/ power) How would you feel? CRISPR was discovered in 1987 in the E. coli genome and altered to be safe in 2007. It was first invented to be a safeguard against any group of viruses that infect bacteria and create immunity against viruses. It is important because it gives scientists the ability to rewrite the genetic code of almost any organism. It’s faster and much cheaper and more precise than the other previous gene-editing techniques.  

CRISPR is a very powerful technology and shouldn’t be used to edit genes. Some parents and scientists have exploited CRISPR technology by using it to “perfect” their unborn children’s physical appearances, which has scary implications for us all. There is no ban against using gene editing on your kid, but there is probation that falls under the FDA. CRISPR is sometimes used to fix a defective gene and they are used to understand the way genes work and that information helps scientists come up with cures for diseases and help people. Interfering with DNA strands and touching the wrong strand or messing with the DNA sequence could result in a disorder happening to your child. The DNA molecule is made up of two strands that can be broken easily by certain chemicals and DNA repairs. Most times, if a DNA strand gets hurt or damaged then it can repair itself using proteins, but if something happens to the gene that repairs the DNA strands, then that could cause an error to form in other genes that would eventually build up to cancer.

Editing your baby to look a certain way would create a new standard of perfection for people and parents to copy and aspire toward.  If this technology was worldwide then there would be a different impact based on the part of the world you’re from. Different parts of the world have different views and they might not agree with each other and that could lead to conflict.  Today in the world the “perfect” body type or “perfect” person is seen through the eyes of social media. People nowadays are used to going with whatever social media says is perfect and when someone doesn’t meet those requirements (ex. Flat belly, straight hair, not too muscley for females, different skin tone, perfect body) then they are seen as ugly or not perfect. When people have the ability to gene edit, then the definition of “perfect” that is dominant in society at that time is what people will want their babies to match so that they can fit the mold of perfection.