What would be available to parents deciding to have a “designer baby”?
Eye colour, athletic ability, beauty, intelligence, height, stopping a propensity towards obesity, guaranteeing freedom from certain mental and physical illnesses, all of these could in the future be determined by genetic science. Even characteristics such as sexuality could be selected. The problem for many is that the frontiers of what is now genetically possible are being pushed back far quicker than the ethical debate can keep up with. In Britain, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has not even finished its public consultation about the pros and cons of pre-implantation genetic screening, and the debate has already rushed on. Who are the people worried about genetics? Some scientists have voiced concerns although many echo the views of Dr John Wagner, of the University of Minnesota, who carried out the Nash operation. He said he was not an ethicist and was just trying to save the girl’s life. The anti-abortion charity Life said selecting top quality embryos was more a
