The Consequences Of Genetic Editing

Imagine a future where people can be designed exactly how they want. They can have perfect hair, perfect teeth, a healthy body, and more. A parent can get rid of all his child’s blemishes and ensure a prosperous life. World diseases can be cured and sicknesses healed. Though this may seem like science fiction, this future is getting closer and closer thanks to advances in genetics. Many people may envy this future, but its consequences may be horrendous. Editing the human genome should never become a reality due to many harmful and drastic consequences. Currently, technologies such as CRISPR are allowing for the editing of DNA with surprising accuracy and safety. A few monkeys in China had their genomes edited by CRISPR/Cas9 and were born safely (“Genome Editing”). This was a revolution in DNA editing. With accurate and safe editing, humans seem like the next target of genome editing. Many people envision a future where people can be perfect thanks to genomic editing. However, this may be a terrible concept. While genomic editing is very accurate, it isn’t perfect. As Hank Greely said, “Indeed,
Enthusiastic parents will want to have a perfect child in perfect condition. However, these “designer babies” will create a larger and larger social gap. In the early stages, only wealthy parents will afford to edit the baby's genes. While the wealthy continue to grow more perfect and intelligent, the poor will still be only average at best. This can have terrible consequences on society’s social life and economy. Even working on seemingly good causes such as diseases should be prohibited. Many scientists are debating about genomic editing. The Guardian says that any harmful side effect resulting from genome editing can be carried from generation to generation (Sample). However, editing crops and plants may be