Eugenics/Designer-babies... is the concept really that bad?

[Alex K]

I think it's great.

Finally humanity can achieve something that will take nature hundreds of years: the complete elimination of soulless gingers!

With the precision of CRISPR Cas 9, you can splice the soul genes of real people into ginger DNA to make a kind of Frankensoul chimera. Amazing what science can do, isn't it!

[Jesster]

I think this would potentially be a great advancement for humanity. It could solve all sorts of genetic issues we struggle with today. Of course there would need to be regulations thrown around everywhere to ensure that it remains ethical, but that's not all too different from any other large scientific advancement.

[Aoi Magi]

By making babies that fit what we WANT them to be, we are likely to decrease diversity, harming the species' genetic fitness.  Whether we care more about the general principle of evolution than our baby growing to be a tall, blue-eyed, big-dicked genius or whatever is a matter of philosophical distinction.

I guess it will be like this-- everyone will want everyone ELSE'S babies to be normal, but will secretly attempt  to gain genetic privilege for their own.

I don't think genetic diversity would be much of an issue. On one hand if we can truly master gene editing, we won't have to be dependent on the natural diversity of our gene pool, and on the other, we will kind of get a huge diversity cause we won't be adapting to various portions of the same rock rather we can adapt to all of the planets in the universe, and I imagine someone adapted to mars' environment would be quite different from someone adapted to europa

[paulpablo]

By making babies that fit what we WANT them to be, we are likely to decrease diversity, harming the species' genetic fitness.  Whether we care more about the general principle of evolution than our baby growing to be a tall, blue-eyed, big-dicked genius or whatever is a matter of philosophical distinction.

I guess it will be like this-- everyone will want everyone ELSE'S babies to be normal, but will secretly attempt  to gain genetic privilege for their own.

I don't think genetic diversity would be much of an issue. On one hand if we can truly master gene editing, we won't have to be dependent on the natural diversity of our gene pool, and on the other, we will kind of get a huge diversity cause we won't be adapting to various portions of the same rock rather we can adapt to all of the planets in the universe, and I imagine someone adapted to mars' environment would be quite different from someone adapted to europa

I was under the impression that there's no way an animal as large as a mammal could be adapted to live on a planet like mars.

Googling the subject it says mars is a radiation blasted toxic wasteland.

The only kind of thing I could imagine is a sci fi style, brain adapted to be inside some sort of solar powered machine.  I can imagine we'd end up looking like those spider creatures from the doom computer game.

[Astonished]

In theory, yes, designer modification of genes would decrease diversity since the most desirable attributes would be universally requested. We would likely end up only every now and then, if a better modification was discovered, 'upgrade' and then the next few generations will have that feature added or substituted, so while we wouldn't exactly stagnate, evolution would pretty much halt as far as nature is concerned.

So we'd probably become like the Sontarans from Doctor Who (just clones of one master blueprint), or the Kryptonians from Man of Steel (no natural births).

[Aegon]

I like Eugenics as a principle even without the designer baby bit thrown it. Designer babies just make it that much easier.

Uh. Could I ask you to expand on that.

[Aoi Magi]

I was under the impression that there's no way an animal as large as a mammal could be adapted to live on a planet like mars.

Googling the subject it says mars is a radiation blasted toxic wasteland.

The only kind of thing I could imagine is a sci fi style, brain adapted to be inside some sort of solar powered machine.  I can imagine we'd end up looking like those spider creatures from the doom computer game.

Well I was thinking more along the lines of giant space cockroaches, but spiders can work just as well I guess, but whatever that form may be, it'd certainly be a whole lot different from adaptations on a water planet or gas planet. So the diversity still will be there and will actually increase.

@Astonished: yeh but the kryptonians were stupidly stuck on a single planet... if they were to spread across the universe of course there'd be some diversity and evolution would continue. I imagine the son of superman is a tiny bit different from his dad, who in turn is different from his dad...

[WinterHold]

I'm just assuming that today's world is not a park, and I can expect racism between the normal people and the gene-modified humans.
There are no genes for psychology.

But for curing sickness, yes, pretty much

[The Industrial Atheist]

I think it's great.

Finally humanity can achieve something that will take nature hundreds of years: the complete elimination of soulless gingers!

Some Gingers are Hottt!! Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!

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Eugenics is bad mmmkkay?

[ErGingerbreadMandude]

If gene editing could edit out racism, sexism, pedophilia etc that'd be pretty cool