Designer Babies?

Designer babies is what the media is calling the claim of genetically modified babies in China. 

“He Jiankui, an American-educated scientist based in Shenzhen, announced on Monday that he’d used Crispr, a powerful gene-editing tool, to make recently-born twin girls resistant to HIV. …Whatever the veracity of He’s claims, it’s likely that China, with its aggressively entrepreneurial startups and less stringent regulation, will be the country where researchers most rapidly test the currently-accepted boundaries of genetic manipulation. That presents its leaders with a dilemma: Whether to follow the U.S. and Europe in strictly regulating its application, or take a more hands-off approach, catalysing rapid innovation in a strategic industry at the cost of what could be serious risks to patients.” 

The major concern is that some scientists will bypass ethical jurisdictions, and will work to relate the technology to many applications.  China might be an obvious place to do such experimentation in light of its population concerns, but could the American researchers also venture into this new realm, if they haven’t already?  A Harvard researcher has already suggested as much to create healthier humans.

What are the relevant legal issues and DNA concerns?  Are Designer Babies in Test Tubes and Microbes Replacing Romance? 

In our article Designer Babies: Are Test Tubes and Microbes Replacing Romance?  Relevant Legal Issues and DNA, 16 Am. J. Forensic Medicine & Pathology 1 (1995)(with Kathleen A. Miller)we discuss these matters in detail, challenging an approach from a Christian perspective that honors God and His people.  It is a bit of prescience from 1995, but worth consideration as science and technology pushes the boundaries of human families in novel and daunting ways.