interest. However, these designer babies are not too distant. Already, some fertility clinics offer tests that allow parents to choose embryos free of unwanted traits (such as disease genes) or carrying desirable traits (such as tissue type that will make the newborn a useful organ donor for a sibling) (Post). Certain parents will desire to have perfect children and laws may not be able to prevent them from achieving flawless offspring. The correction of genetic defects which cause diseases is the goal, and the possibility of adding genes for enhancement of the particular human may be a byproduct. Dr. Schatten does not believe that his groups research is a first step toward the production of ideal human infants. We are only in this business to make disease models to eradicate diseases, [Dr. Schatten] said (Reuters 1). The possibility of altering the human genome is dependent on the desire of the knowledgeable individual with the initiative to do so. The possibility of manipulating human offspring is a future concern; but, in present day, the possibility of Andis children being altered is a hopeful symbol that the experiment bears more success. We have neither demonstrated germline transmission nor the presence of transgenic sperm; this must await Andis development through puberty in about 4 years (Science, p. 312). The notoriety of retroviri enter this situation as well. New genes introduced by the retroviri usually remain inactive in the offspring of the transgenic animal. However, if the offspring prove the GFP gene is congenital, then an ethical concern arises. The concern being that the offspring will have their building blocks permanently altered and each succeeding generation would not have a typical genome, an inalienable right all animals bear. If humans have the ability to regulate what genes can be reproduced in certain animals, then the research should continue. If animals can be affected by research without b...
