Tharajan's Bioblog: 2010

Designer babies, these were only known to be found in sci-fi movies and in the dreams of kids. Now, "Designer babies" can be found in our dictionaries and textbooks. In the Oxford Dictionary, designer babies are defined as, "a baby whose genetic make-up has been selected in order to eradicate a particular defect, or to ensure that a particular gene is present". Designer Babies allow you to take advantage of present technology to choose and design one's perfect baby. In the cartoon image on the on the left, we can see that the in the cartoon image above, we can see that the mother of the child wanted the child to become a biochemist as her perfect child. But its obvious that you cannot turn a baby into a biochemist with designer babies.

Highly Developed reproductive technology now allows parents to check their embryos for any type of disorder and to even select a healthy embryo instead. This new reproductive technology uses In-Vitro Fertilization or IVF. This is an amazing thing, it can fertilize eggs outside the mother by placing the eggs with sperm in test-tubes in a special lab. After some researching, BBC stated that the 4 Steps of Creating a Designer Baby. An embryo is created with In-Vitro Fertilization. A cell from this embryo is removed within the first 5 days. The cell is tested genetically. The parents have a choice of whether to discard the embryo or implant it into the mother's womb. Now, you might be wondering, why would people want to go through this process when it goes back into the mother's womb at the end. Well there are several reasons why. One reason. A second reason is to screen for diseases such as Huntingdon's disease and Cystic fibrosis or genetic conditions such as Down Syndrome. A third reason is to create a healthy baby to treat a sick sibling. The fourth and final reason is to select the sex of a future child.

With the new concept of Designer Babies, many problems have been removed from the embryo and characteristics of the embryo can be predetermined. In addition to that, gene therapy allows scientists to actually decide the gender of the baby they want to have. It is believed that in the future, technology will actually allow us to decide the height, appearance, eye color, hair color, IQ and many other aspects that can be decided before birth. Most people believe that is actually interfering with the laws of nature. With all this, there is uniqueness will not be a characteristic of new born babies. Believe it or not, critics believe that the practice of genetic therapy will lead to a new race of people (Very unlikely in my opinion). The main issue is that now with everyone taking advantage of this opportunity, the people who don’t will become social outcasts. People with genetic disorders will have the same fate.

Bibliography

"Designer Babies: Ethical Considerations (ActionBioscience)." ActionBioscience - Promoting Bioscience Literacy. Web. 27 Nov. 2010. <http://www.actionbioscience.org/biotech/agar.html>.

"Designer Babies?" Jesus Christ Is the ONLY Way to Heaven! Web. 27 Nov. 2010. <http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/End of the World/Genetics Nightmare/designer_babies.htm>.

Lalwani, By Puja. "Designer Babies: Ethical Issues." Buzzle Web Portal: Intelligent Life on the Web. Web. 27 Nov. 2010. <http://www.buzzle.com/articles/designer-babies-ethical-issues.html>.

"Google Image Result for Http://www.babiesinthehood.com/images/popup/costume_superman.jpg." Google. Web. 27 Nov. 2010. <http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.babiesinthehood.com/images/popup/costume_superman.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.babiesinthehood.com/fashion.html&usg=__TxG4dCGp0hbh9B5ZWB3pCfZ4xWA=&h=376&w=300&sz=23&hl=en&start=0&sig2=4yUCvH7Ap8FR57gk9PhihQ&zoom=1&tbnid=JnFvHqjn9t8WVM:&tbnh=156&tbnw=124&ei=H8fxTOaWGNCTnQe8pZSMCg&prev=/images?q=super+baby&hl=en&biw=1440&bih=637&gbv=2&tbs=isch:1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=344&vpy=96&dur=59&hovh=251&hovw=200&tx=125&ty=172&oei=H8fxTOaWGNCTnQe8pZSMCg&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=23&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0>.

"Google Image Result for Http://www.firstscience.com/home/images/cartoons/li160.jpg." Google. Web. 27 Nov. 2010. <http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.firstscience.com/home/images/cartoons/li160.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.firstscience.com/home/cartoons/strange-matter-designer-babies_160.html&usg=__gB8n7UCTaigxZexn_F4NUtx5phc=&h=561&w=600&sz=45&hl=en&start=0&sig2=8e197OV2CX2hUfUTx9XdHw&zoom=1&tbnid=UmzAP72FmmO0tM:&tbnh=151&tbnw=161&ei=8cnxTP6mGMWbnAfOsZiECg&prev=/images?q=Designer+babies&hl=en&biw=1440&bih=637&gbv=2&tbs=isch:10,86&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=492&vpy=186&dur=225&hovh=166&hovw=177&tx=139&ty=99&oei=8cnxTP6mGMWbnAfOsZiECg&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=21&ved=1t:429,r:9,s:0&biw=1440&bih=637>.

http://www.buzzle.com/img/articleImages/445775-266-19.jpg

"Google Image Result for Http://www.hums.canterbury.ac.nz/phil/graphics/ethicsflier1.jpg." Google. Web. 27 Nov. 2010. <http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.hums.canterbury.ac.nz/phil/graphics/ethicsflier1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.hums.canterbury.ac.nz/phil/disciplines/ethics.shtml&usg=__LVvBnEjGhB2q4fsUv35El8gfazI=&h=174&w=232&sz=8&hl=en&start=0&sig2=210ji-OA35VYnteuQPmlNA&zoom=1&tbnid=XHBPKdxLuSJ3MM:&tbnh=139&tbnw=185&ei=j8rxTLSAD8G_nAf_hICkCg&prev=/images?q=Designer+babies+ethics&hl=en&biw=1440&bih=637&gbv=2&tbs=isch:1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=498&vpy=122&dur=101&hovh=139&hovw=185&tx=70&ty=15&oei=j8rxTLSAD8G_nAf_hICkCg&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=21&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0>.

Before we start with an organization that protects biodiversity, we need to know what biodiversity is. Biodiversity is basically all living things on Earth. To sustain an ecosystem, many different varieties of species of plants and animals are needed. Each species has its own role that plays an important role in the overall ecosystem.

A present organization where human intervention is being used to positively affect the biodiversity of our ecosystem is The Center of Biodiversity and Conservation. This organization's definition of biodiversity is, "The term biodiversity refers to the variety of life on Earth at all its levels, from genes to ecosystems, and the ecological and evolutionary processes that sustain it". This organization has only one mission in mind, which is to find solutions to threats that affect the Earth on a biological level and diversity on a cultural level. In order for this organization to do this, they need to:

a) “Advancing scientific research in diverse ecosystems”

b) “Strengthening the application of science to conservation practice and public policy”

c) “Developing professional, institutional, and community capacity”

d) “Furthering the Museum's efforts to heighten public understanding and stewardship of biodiversity”

The Center of Biodiversity and Conservation does many things in museums for example, presentations. They do environment based research and species based research. They have a Biodiversity informatics and they do capacity development. This organization has special, “green holidays”, where they ask local citizens to make a change and try to make it a greener holiday. For example, for Halloween, they ask kids to create costumes that are helpful for the environment and help by not polluting by dropping wrappers and bags. They also show parents how to make a Jack-o-lantern and a nutritious dinner or snack. This calls for a less waste of food and saves more pumpkins.

The Center Of Biodiversity works in many places all over the world and but they have six main stations where a lot of their work takes place. These places are:

The Center of Biodiversity and Conservation does research on many different animals all over the world:

"Developing innovative approaches for researching and conserving invertebrate biodiversity"

"Raising awareness of flamingo ecology and wetland conservation in the Americas"

z"Bridging the fields of genetics, ecology, and education to advance research and protection of globally endangered sea turtles".

"Discovering reptile and amphibian diversity to enhance conservation throughout Southeast Asia"

"Partnering on researching amphibian and reptile diversity in Bolivia".

"Improving understanding of the Saola, an elusive, rare ungulate found only in the foothills of the Truong Son Range in Vietnam".

"Uncovering the little known diversity of bats, rodents, and insectivores of Vietnam and Laos".

Resources

"About." Center for Biodiversity and Conservation at AMNH. American Museum of Natural History. Web. 03 Oct. 2010. <http://cbc.amnh.org/center/programs/www.html>.

Klinkenberg, Brian. "What Is Biodiversity?" UBC Department of Geography. Web. 03 Oct. 2010. <http://www.geog.ubc.ca/biodiversity/Whatisbiodiversity.html>.

Lanktree, Graham. "What Is Biodiversity? - Canadian Geographic Blog." Canadian Geographic - Canadian Geographic Magazine. 23 Aug. 2010. Web. 03 Oct. 2010.

<http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/blog/posting.asp?ID=361>.

"Biodiversity Primer - What Is Biodiversity?" Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources / Ministère Des Richesses Naturelles De L'Ontario. Web. 03 Oct. 2010.

<http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/Business/Biodiversity/2ColumnSubPage/STEL02_166809.html>.

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Biodiversity organization