I'll have one with blue eyes and blond hair please!

Sea Sharp

This will become more and more common over the next century.

Some lucky little test-tube babies will end up with life expediencies of several hundred years.

Grayson

Ikky Poo2 wrote: »

How would you prevent them from becoming super corrupt? Or deciding to create a two-tier society, resulting in people who were not given an ability from effectively being enslaved or trapped or a possibility-less life?

And at that point, we're veering towards communism, where people are given a role rather than a life.

It would be horrible if we were all controlled by 1% of the population.

steddyeddy wrote: »

Off topic but am I the only one who thinks red heads can be really sexy (In a dirty looking sort of way)?

From an article about a sperm bank. (btw, i've always thought ginger girls were hot)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/nov/02/worlds-biggest-sperm-bank-denmark

The Danish laws on donation have recently been tightened after a donor at a rival sperm bank was found to have passed on a rare genetic condition to at least five of the 43 babies he is thought to have fathered. New potential donors are interviewed, their health evaluated and checks made regarding any history of disease in their family. Cryos attracted headlines last year for announcing that red-headed men would not be able to donate, as there was insufficient demand for ginger babies. The truth, Schou told me, was the bank already had plentiful supplies of sperm from redheads and could afford to be picky about new donors.

bluewolf wrote: »

A role? I don't see any roles - they don't have to go into any particular career, just have more opportunities.
You can make them more intelligent or athletic etc and they can use it if they want to. We have enough families pressuring kids into one job or another that I can't see this being some new massive crisis.
It would also be a choice on the part of the parents if they wanted to, not the govt.


I have no idea who exactly is becoming super corrupt in your scenario? Or how being more athletic would put you in a two tier society? Are we in a two tier society now because there are people out there who are world-renowned sports stars or world-renowned musicians or academics? Are there not famous rich celebrities out there who don't seem to have much talent in any area whatsoever except wandering in front of a tv screen?

He means that people will be created to fit a particular need. A "Brave new world" kind of scenario. It's not a case that people go and have a smart kid. It's that it's predetermined how many accountants or mechanics we need and then they are made to order. Multinationals could actually contract out people to have kids of a certain design to work for them in 20 years.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

bluewolf wrote: »

A role? I don't see any roles - they don't have to go into any particular career, just have more opportunities.
You can make them more intelligent or athletic etc and they can use it if they want to. We have enough families pressuring kids into one job or another that I can't see this being some new massive crisis.
It would also be a choice on the part of the parents if they wanted to, not the govt.

You don't see it, but other people will. It's all vey well saying someone doesn't want to do a job, but how do you ensure someone wh odoes want to has a fair crack it at?

I have no idea who exactly is becoming super corrupt in your scenario? Or how being more athletic would put you in a two tier society? Are we in a two tier society now because there are people out there who are world-renowned sports stars or world-renowned musicians or academics? Are there not famous rich celebrities out there who don't seem to have much talent in any area whatsoever except wandering in front of a tv screen?

Power corrupts. How are you going to prevent this? Or are you just going to assume morality will prevail?

We are in a two-tier society not because of people being good at what they do, it's because people who promote this are in power. And they are corrupt. And I'm not talking about governments here.

Capt'n Midnight

Gunner Disgusting Iron wrote: »

Yes but then again, look at what happened when Khan made his way aboard the Enterprise.

Look at his record before that.


KIRK: Name, Khan, as we know him today. (Spock changes the picture) Name, Khan Noonien Singh.
SPOCK: From 1992 through 1996, absolute ruler of more than a quarter of your world. From Asia through the Middle East.
MCCOY: The last of the tyrants to be overthrown.
SCOTT: I must confess, gentlemen. I've always held a sneaking admiration for this one.
KIRK: He was the best of the tyrants and the most dangerous. They were supermen, in a sense. Stronger, braver, certainly more ambitious, more daring.
SPOCK: Gentlemen, this romanticism about a ruthless dictator is
KIRK: Mister Spock, we humans have a streak of barbarism in us. Appalling, but there, nevertheless.
SCOTT: There were no massacres under his rule.
SPOCK: And as little freedom.
MCCOY: No wars until he was attacked.

flutterflye

I'd like to ensure I get a girl the next time, and I'd like to remove the autism gene, but beyond that, I wouldn't be bothered.

I don't really see why you would want certain physical/mental attributes in your child over other ones, but meh, if people want to do it, let them.


I read a book recently enough - I think it might have been called Perfect People? Something like that. The book itself was rubbish, but the premise was interesting - similar to what this thread is about.

Gattaca also interesting.

alroley

Princess Peach wrote: »

I'd like a blond baby, but my boyfriend doesn't have any blonds in his family

Its a genetic urge us blonds have, pass on the recessive gene type thing. Plus we have nicer looking hair.

Eh, no.

One designer baby doesn't seem like a big deal (although it shows the parents to be alarmingly shallow).

However think about down the line, when the design stage becomes a normal procedure for having a baby. Almost everyone will pick popular traits, until we're effectively forcing our genomes to evolve along with fashion. Genes not immediately obvious as important could die out, making out gene pool smaller and smaller and the strength of our genes weaker and weaker.

Not to mention that fashion could become war-worthy. People who prefer dark hair breeding generations of dark-haired children and people who prefer light hair breeding generations of light-haired children. There could be other genetic changes made to go along with these choices (brown haired children might often be preferred to have dark eyes or tanned skin also, and genetic design companies could end up with whole packages to give to parents, like a meal deal in a takeaway, with whole sets of genes for Aryan/Exotic/Fair/etc.). This could lead to a reversal of the integration our gene pool is seeing, until there are new races that are more strictly divided than ever before. To choose your children's genes is to choose what you think the best person is like, and that's bound to stir up all sorts of fights and resentment, and hell, wars have been fought for less.

I wish I'd been genetically engineered. Would save me a fortune on hairdressing.

Seriously though, blonde hair and blue eyed people can still be ugly.

steddyeddy

Deleted User wrote: »

I wish I'd been genetically engineered. Would save me a fortune on hairdressing.

Seriously though, blonde hair and blue eyed people can still be ugly.

Well pop into the lab during the week and I'll see what I can do! I have been genetically engineering monkeys to have great hair and 50% of them survived the procedure!!

steddyeddy

steddyeddy wrote: »

Well pop into the lab during the week and I'll see what I can do! I have been genetically engineering monkeys to have great hair and 50% of them survived the procedure!!

but what colour is their beautiful hair?? details people, details.

Praetorian Saighdiuir

Deleted User wrote: »

I wish I'd been genetically engineered. Would save me a fortune on hairdressing.

Seriously though, blonde hair and blue eyed people can still be ugly.

Dont let Hitler hear you say that! :eek:

steddyeddy

Deleted User wrote: »

but what colour is their beautiful hair?? details people, details.

Emmm well my preference is for dark hair so thats what I'd give the monkeys

benwavner

benwavner wrote: »

Dont let Hitler hear you say that! :eek:

I made sure he was out of the room first.

steddyeddy wrote: »

Emmm well my preference is for dark hair so thats what I'd give the monkeys

Dammit.

kowloon

Deleted User wrote: »

I wish I'd been genetically engineered. Would save me a fortune on hairdressing.

I think we could splice in a susceptibility for total alopecia. Would solve all your hair problems .

steddyeddy

Deleted User wrote: »

I made sure he was out of the room first.



Dammit.

Ah well natural hair is bestest anyways!

sheesh

part of the reason we bond with our children is the fact that they are like us or that have shared ancestry.

if you interfere with that you are risking people not bonding with their children.

basically the need to get your genes into the next generation is what drives people to reproduce if they are not your genes might the parent lose interest in the child

Maudi

My name is URL wrote: »

Any person wanting a 'designer' baby isn't really fit to be a parent imo.

so any parent wanting the best for their child is a bad parent...nteresting...

steddyeddy

Maudi wrote: »

so any parent wanting the best for their child is a bad parent...nteresting...

Well define the best? Choosing a child with blue eyes doesnt gaurantee success.

kowloon

Adoption?

tatabubbly

These techniques are usually pretty expensive no?? So joe down the street won't be doing it unless in most cases, there are fertility problems..

Most people are just happy to have a happy healthy baby at the end of the nine months.

kowloon

And so the rich pay for small upgrades and the rest are happy with things as they are. Over time the upgrades mount up until two divergent species are created. Let's call one group the Morlocks and the other the Eloi.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

kowloon wrote: »

And so the rich pay for small upgrades and the rest are happy with things as they are. Over time the upgrades mount up until two divergent species are created. Let's call one group the Morlocks and the other the Eloi.

Or one "liberal" and one "conservative".

Maudi

Maudi wrote: »

so any parent wanting the best for their child is a bad parent...nteresting...

Since when was blonde hair and blue eyes the best for your child?

TheUsual

I can imagine your local friendly Tesco doing all this in the future :

"We're sorry but you do not have enough Tesco loyalty points for a high IQ or a strong ability to lead !"

"It's ok, we will love him all the same, his name will be Enda .... Enda Kenny"

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

Deleted User wrote: »

Since when was blonde hair and blue eyes the best for your child?

Since Robert Baratheon died.

Maudi

steddyeddy wrote: »

Well define the best? Choosing a child with blue eyes doesnt gaurantee success.

i never mentioned eye colour son..although i prefer blue..

Maudi

TheUsual wrote: »

I can imagine your local friendly Tesco doing all this in the future :

"We're sorry but you do not have enough Tesco loyalty points for a high IQ or a strong ability to lead !"

"It's ok, we will love him all the same, his name will be Enda .... Enda Kenny"

heh heh!

9959

charlemont wrote: »

Its playing God....

What do you think the Pope's doing for fock sake, or Jose Mourinho for that matter, or actor Willem Dafoe in the 1988 film 'The Last Temptation of Christ'.
Everyone's doing it now.
David Quinn, John Waters, Breda O'Brien etc.
So don't be left behind, join in, lower your voice, adopt a censorious attitude to ANYTHING and EVERYTHING vaguely unreligious, and before you know it you'll be on 'Morning Ireland' banging on about the moral decline of the nation following the collapse of the 'Celtic Tiger'.
It's important to remember to vehemently disagree with anything said or written by the godless Fintan O'Toole.
But most importantly - particularly if you have money - you must tell people that money isn't everything and that attempting to make your life and the lives of your children more comfortable will never fill the God shaped hole deep in your Irish peasant soul, if not that, then make something up.
Remember the main objectives are to make YOU feel good, smug and superior whilst at the same time making anyone who listens to you feel bad, inferior and guilty as sin.
That's how you play God.

Maudi

whoopsadaisydoodles wrote: »

Since when was blonde hair and blue eyes the best for your child?

jesus i.m.o they cant bring in selective breeding soon enough!!!i never mentioned hair /eye colour..

Teyla Emmagan

I'll have a little boy with blue eyes and red hair thanks