Unintelligent Design

The manipulation of a baby’s possible genetic traits reflects our lack of understanding of human development.

With the world's population projected to reach 7.04 billion by the end of 2010, one would hope that a sense of reproductive rationality would begin to lodge itself in our collective consciousness. Instead, medical researchers continue to develop new techniques to facilitate conception and manipulate the genetic expression of traits and characteristics of artificially fertilized embryos.

Welcome to the brave new world of designer babies and the culmination of the Human Genome Project's work in determining the structure of human DNA and gene location. With this powerful set of tools we have a much better understanding of the genetic basis of disease and have discovered new techniques to reduce the heritability of such diseases and disorders. We have also, however, generated unique moral and social risks that we may not have the wisdom to currently manage properly, ethically, and fairly.

Back in 1959, in vitro fertilization (IVF) was produced successfully in rabbits. Slightly less than two decades later, Louise Brown was born using the same technique. With IVF, fertilization occurs externally, and the resulting embryo is transferred back into the womb.

Due to advances in modern biotechnology, it is now possible to modify gametes and embryos to select for particular characteristics. This is significantly more complicated -- and horrifying – than sex selection. It will soon be possible for a parent to purchase physical characteristics for their offspring such as eye colour, hair colour, above-average height, and a particular kind of physique. They could even alter IQ level, memory enhancement, and compassion and sensitivity modules. Many parents would likely be interested in reducing their child’s probability of developing arthritis, heart disease, cancer, or Huntington's Disease.

One might argue that the use of technology to select characteristics of offspring isn't new -- sperm and egg banks have been doing something similar in a lower-tech way for decades. For example, it's not uncommon to see portfolios of potential sperm donors advertising their pedigree with descriptive comments like: “I am a healthy white male, 35 years old, 6 feet tall, blonde hair, blue eyes, and in great health. I would like to help out a couple or a single woman. I am also doing this for a selfish reason. I have no children, but would love to know that my blood line will live on (I am the last male in my family).”

Nevertheless, there is a large qualitative difference between shopping for sperm based on such descriptions and modifying embryos to create designer babies. The designer baby revolution treats genomes like software and reproductive material like hardware that needs programming. DNA is akin to computer code: if we can sequence it, we can re-program it. Moreover, diseases – or “undesirable” behavioural characteristics like attention deficit disorder – are labeled as errors in programming. The code either works correctly or it is flawed.

There exists an embedded assumption that genetics prevails and that environmental conditions play an insignificant role in development. This form of genetic determinism is becoming hegemonic, causing many to falsely believe that our genes determine who we are at every level: physically, emotionally, and behaviourally. People might assume that a clone of Wayne Gretzky would have the same success at hockey as the original, and they would ruefully ignore the social milieu and other factors that undoubtedly shaped Gretzky throughout his life.

There remain many unanswered questions about how this technology will be used. The risks associated with this suite of technologies are largely unknown, and pervasive spin doctoring exists surrounding the benefits of building better humans. Unfortunately, the notion that biology underscores our essence is still very much alive, and genes are increasingly seen as responsible for fate. In the end, we'll all be much better off if we could just find the gene for reproductive rationality and put this technology into the dustbin of history.