Imagine choosing your child's tendency toward Gluttony. Or, Pride. Or, Greed. Or, some other appealing personality trait. Amazing, yes?While we have made exciting progress in allowing parents to choose existing hereditary traits for their children, we are now embarking on an even more exciting course.
In our latest initiative, we hope to implant artificially created cells that determine new characteristics into pre-embryonic stem-cells. This will allow the same precise** control that many of our adult residents now enjoy (See the May 20, 2007 Post)..
At present, our manipulation of the genome affects only the particular individual; the characteristics do not get passed on to the offspring (Somatic Gene Therapy). By working at the pre-embryonic stage (Germline Choice Technologies (GCT)) the characteristics do get passed on to all following generations.
However, and this is the truly amazing part, because we believe in the freedom to make choices about our own individual character, these artificial cells will also carry a mechanism allowing many of the traits to be adjusted, or nullified, at any time during an individuals' life (for you geneticists our there, the process is inspired by Mario Capecchi's work with CRE Recombinase). Amazing, yes?
Further, in the spirit of avoiding behavioral & genomic uniformity within the community, this mechanism will be self-monitoring: it will not allow an adjustment, or drift, into morally undesirable or behaviorally homogeneous territory. Imagine!
beautifulBabies™: beautiful on the outside, beautiful on the inside.
** While physical traits can be precisely determined, genetic dispositions for personality and character depend greatly on the environment in which the child is nurtured.
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Ummmmmm yeah. This is a joke right? How very Stepford. . .
ReplyDeleteI believe your reference to "Stepford" implies that this technology will produce individuals who live in a robotic, conformist manner without giving offense to anyone?
ReplyDeleteWhile most people will choose to place limits on the expression of a particular sin, these will mostly be to ensure some control over highly destructive (physically or emotionally) behaviors.
This will not produce homogeneity, or "robot-like" behavior, as depicted in the fictional tale you refer to. In fact, as we have found in the adults who have already undergone the therapy, many chose to add a little more of a particular trait to achieve what they feel is more depth, or variance, to their personality.
This is not about conforming to a standard, but allowing the freedom to define and achieve an individuals' definition of personal happiness.
This has got to be, hands down, one of the worst, and most, ridiculous ideas I have eve heard of. It is not the place of human beings to step in and try to play God; all we'll end up doing is screwing up humanity even more than it already is. This route of genetic engineering you're speaking of is for cowards who are too lazy to take the initiative upon themselves to live like a decent human being . And I don't care what you say, or what so called "science" claims to be able to do for people, it will NEVER be able to erase sin. There's only one Way to get that done. And it ain't through, science, honey!
ReplyDeleteGod thought this was so important He said it twice:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=Way+thats+seems+right+man+death&qs_version=47
will this therapy be available to non-residents, and if so, when ?
ReplyDeleteOnly God can forgive sin. We cannot scientifically manipulate our sin nature. Sin management is not the same as being righteous... only Christ can do that! We are born sinners and the only cure is Jesus.
ReplyDeleteSuch a beautiful idea. I want to be there.
ReplyDeleteYou say that this new 'project' is designed to help people achieve a new level of personal happiness. but if you're designing personality traits in the womb, a job best left to God, what's not to say that you won't be designing personal happiness as well? your whole institution is absurd, and evil.
ReplyDelete