man, once again trying to play ''God'' on a quest to create life, mutating and destroying the Creation, it's like the glowing sheeps and cats with jelly fish dna, and goat with spider dna.
Well, obviously, if God intended trees to become paper, they would grow sheets of paper for us to write upon, and pencils would sprout from the ground like mushrooms.
Animals would throw themselves before us and cook delightfully in the rays of the sun while salt and spices sprouted forth from the clouds. Animals would shed entire works of clothing and houses would 'happen' in our sleep (as grass formed itself into beds of hay as we stretched out to sleep).
The whole of human history has been a process of gaining an understanding of the world around us to allow us to use it to better our lives.
The problem isn't that we seek the understanding of our universe that God would have. The problem is that we often lack the wisdom and temperament that comes with being God. Which is precisely what spiritualism is about - learning about the universe and how to act wisely within it.
Fifty years from now people will be choosing what their kids hair and eye colors will be, how tall they will grow, and preventing most genetic diseases before they are even conceived.
Good news-Kids will probably be born healthy.
Bad news-Your parents decide what you will look like. And lots of people make dumb decisions.
I doubt there will be too much of that.
For starters, many of our looks simply have nothing to do with genetics. Eye color, for example, is only partially genetics. The only gene for eye color is the presence of melanin in the iris. Melanin turns the iris brown. Blue and green eyes are a lack of the gene for melanin in the iris (hence why all babies are born with blue eyes) - green is caused by a different crystalline gradient.
There are other factors that are more difficult to control. For example, I have hazel eyes. This is caused by X-inactivation, where cells in some parts of my iris (around the pupil) follow the gene from my mother that assigns me brown eyes. The green outer section of my iris, however, follows according to the gene from my father - which does not produce melanin in the iris.
It is quite possible that such factors are impossible to control - or could only be controlled with nano-technology well in advance of anything we can conceive today.
The main utility that people will find is in correcting for hereditary disease. Most individuals, today, are missing about 21 genes (meaning - 21 or more proteins) from their genetic code. Most of the time - this has little effect, and it is also possible that the list of 'genes to be considered missing' is flawed in its construction. However, the point is that there is a considerable reason to look into genetic therapy.
It's not just your kids that will benefit from it - it can be their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
Where I see this really being applicable, though, is in the world of organ printing and stem cell research. People born with genetic disorders of muscle tissue, degenerative vascular problems, genetically 'doomed' organs, etc can have genetic therapy applied to cultures of stem cells that can then be printed to enable them to be literally cured of their predicament (though the consequences of such therapies on neurological disorders is iffy).
Even for people who do not have this done during development in the womb can ultimately see some success.
Women and men rendered sterile or who do not wish to pass on a genetic defect could, at least in theory, have their germ cells removed before having a post-therapy stem cell culture coaxed into becoming new germ cells (which would replace the ones removed).
The thing with "designer babies" is that people will find that womb conditions and nurture play just as large (if not larger) of a role in the 'product' of a child. While there will be a market for it - few people will end up taking interest in it after the reports and studies begin showing that just because you order the kit doesn't mean it gets assembled to look like the advertisement.
Probably being the key word there. It's more like they'll mess things up.
Scientists, always messing around with stuff. Nothing good can come from that. People should leave well enough alone.
The very device you are utilizing came from scientists messing around with stuff.
The food you eat came from, at the very least, a scientist in prehistory who realized that he could control where food-bearing plants grew by where he dropped seeds. He messed around with stuff (or possibly even she).
Scientists are always messing around with stuff. The truly disturbing thing is how few people consider their selves to be scientists. Everyone should always be evaluating the world and looking to better understand how it works. When you don't, you often spend your time stuck in a cycle of eat-and-poop. And while little bad can come of that - so can little good.
