Designer Bags, NOT Designer Babies!

Scientists believe they made a breakthrough in embriotic technology, however all they have created is ethical problems and the murdering of embryos. 
The actual dictionary definition states that Designer Babies are "an infant created by genetic engineering combined with in vitro fertilization in order to ensure the absence or presence of a particular gene or characteristic". The two biggest questions raised from the discussion of designer babies is "Is this technology safe enough to use on human embryo?" and "Is this morally correct?".

"'It's naive to think that you can go in there with the traits that deal with higher human powers... without [causing] real changes in other areas' The ripple effects of adding a new gene are unknown". What would our society in 120 years?

For the question "is this techonology safe enough to use on humans?", several scientists think we are ready, such as this fertility doctor that was interviewed for the news channel CBS (the video is shown below). However the truth is, even the in vitro fertilization process isn't completely perfect yet, there have been a large number of mother and infant deaths (either immediately or with age) due to the short term and long term effects of the unnatural birth. Its risky to perform in vitro much more designer babies. Today, even the professionals believe that the technology isn't ready to perform these highly risky experiments, that there still are technical limitations , nevertheless, a handful of fertility doctors fully believe that they'd be able to determine eye colour by next year and make that option available to the public, and in my opinion, that is completely absurd.

The video to the left is an interview performed by a CBS news anchor on what a couple professionals believe on both sides of Designer Babies.

For the question "is this morally correct?", many would argue both sides to this point, depending on what they believe is ethical, moral, and what their religion believes, if they are religious. If the people are unreligious, they base the fact on the how financially unaffordable it is. People believe that, along with refrigerators, televisions and game consoles, the price would start high, and slowly decrease, however for the high-tech equipment and the precise services, that cost doesn't have that much room to decrease especially within years, which most fertility professionals believe. In vitro fertilization alone averages $12,000 per cycle, so if a cycle fails, which has a possibility to happen, it's another $12,000. Adults agree that in the meantime, the people who could afford this altered baby impregnation would be in the higher financial class, and putting people in the lower class who choose this altered baby option into deeper financial depression, making the economic gap between the high, middle and lower class even deeper.   

Another concern is how for the people who are religious believe that this process is "playing God". Only God has the power to choose whether you are a blue or black eyed ginger, so they strongly disagree with designer babies, so their children are basically disadvantaged because all of the other kids would have an upper hand in everything.

Its admitted that it's a big step into the future of technology and genetics, however some things aren't worth the risk.

The idea of Designer Babies could be compared to an expensive luxury such as a Versace handbag or a brand new Mercedes. It's not a necessity, such as if they were getting rid of a cancer gene, it's a selfish "want".

476 words, not including captions and works cited.

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Works Cited

Agar, Nicholas. "Designer Babies: Ethical Considerations." ActionBioscience. 2010. Web. 15 Nov. 2010. <http://www.actionbioscience.org/biotech/agar.html>.

"Can We Choose a Baby's Sex?" Bionet. 2002. Web. 15 Nov. 2010. <http://www.bionetonline.org/english/content/db_cont2.htm>.

Designer Babies? CBS. Youtube, 03 Mar. 2009. Web. 15 Nov. 2010. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ixEDLa3Jlc>.

"Designer Baby." Def. 2. Dictionary.com, 2010. Web. 15 Nov. 2010. <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/designer+baby>.

Gurevich, Rachel. "How Much Does IVF Cost." Fertility. About.com, 06 Nov. 2010. Web. 15 Nov. 2010. <http://infertility.about.com/od/ivf/f/ivf_cost.htm>.

Karpasea-Jones, Joanna. "IVF Mother and Baby Deaths." Suite101.com. 27 May 2010. Web. 15 Nov. 2010. <http://www.suite101.com/content/ivf-mother-and-baby-deaths-a241856>.

Ren, Yin. Designer Babies: The Pros and Cons of Genetic Engineering. MIT, Spring 2005. Web. 15 Nov. 2010. <http://web.mit.edu/murj/www/v12/v12-Features/v12-f4.pdf>.

Yay Oregon!

Biodiversity is the base on which the life of the earth and its ecosystems rely on in order to provide us with the products that we need. Its countless plants, animals and microbes physically and chemically unite the atmosphere, geosphere, and hydrosphere into one environmental system which gives us the oxygen, food, water, fertile soil, stable climate and recreation that millions of species, including people, need to exist (ICUN - About Biodiversity). Unfortunately this wide variety of living organisms such as animals, plants, their habitats and their genes have been dramatically shrinking evidently because of man, however, there are organizations and partnerships that have been making biodiversity preservation their main or only focus.

Oregon.

 Oregon, the 33^rd state in the United States of America is known all around North America as a place with diverse and beautiful landscape with a variety of fish and wildlife. Thousands of species depend on their old grown forests in the Cascade Mountains and the lakes as well as the swamps for rest, food and raising grounds.

The Oregon Biodiversity Project is a state-wide strategy proposed by the Defenders of Wildlife in 1994. It soon became the first state-wide biodiversity assessment, paving the way for the new generation of conservation plans. Funded by private foundations, federal agencies, corporate contributors, individual researchers, etc. their primary goal was to develop a practical way to conserve Oregon’s native biodiversity. The help of Nature Conservancy of Oregon and the Oregon Natural Heritage Program, the project produced a strategy that included 42 “Conservation Opportunity Areas”, which are areas where there is a possibility of future species endangerment. In order to do so they had to use GIS (geographical information systems) to conduct a state-wide biodiversity conservation assessment (“ESRI Conservation Program Resources”). For the assessment, they determined how well the lands managed to keep their biodiversity.  The areas were ranked on a ten-point scale, areas dedicated to biodiversity preservation received high scores whereas other industrialized or rural cities have a lower score. With that score, the organization prioritizes and projects its strategy for biodiversity protection.  With all the results, they concluded that they needed to further protect 33% of the state’s land.

The areas in green are the Conservation Opportunity Areas.

            Once the areas are found, the Oregon Biodiversity Projects board members work together to try and make “acquisitions, conservation easements, legislation, negotiated agreements, habitat restoration, and changed in management that would directly enhance biodiversity issues”. (“Oregon Biodiversity Project – Defenders of Wildlife”). They also developed products to help refer to the problem and their solution such as a full-colour atlas that outlines major findings and separate publications on landowner conservation incentives. In addition, several members of the project branched out and published 31 environmentally educational books like "A Place for Nature" and "Biodiversity and Wildlife Conservation Planning References".

Society has been generally increasing their awareness and concern for the environment, but more people are needed to make a significant change, so why don’t you take the first step?

For more information or donations visit

http://www.defenders.org/programs_and_policy/biodiversity_partners/oregon_biodiversity_project/

Works Cited

1996, By. "Oregon Biodiversity Project - Defenders of Wildlife." Defenders of Wildlife - Protection of Endangered Species, Imperiled Species, Habitats. Web. 30 Sept. 2010. <http://www.defenders.org/programs_and_policy/biodiversity_partners/oregon_biodiversity_project/>.

"Biodiversity Partners Reports and Publications - Defenders of Wildlife." Defenders of Wildlife - Protection of Endangered Species, Imperiled Species, Habitats. Web. 30 Sept. 2010. <http://www.defenders.org/programs_and_policy/biodiversity_partners/publications.php>.

"Biodiversity Partnership - Defenders of Wildlife." Defenders of Wildlife - Protection of Endangered Species, Imperiled Species, Habitats. Web. 30 Sept. 2010. <http://www.defenders.org/programs_and_policy/biodiversity_partners/>.

"ESRI Conservation Program Resources: General Conservation." ESRI Conservation Program:. Web. 28 Sept. 2010. <http://www.conservationgis.org/links/conserve10.html>.

"IUCN - About Biodiversity." IUCN - Home. 1 July 2010. Web. 30 Sept. 2010. <http://www.iucn.org/iyb/about/>.

"Oregon Biodiversity Projec - Oregon - Defenders of Wildlife." Defenders of Wildlife - Protection of Endangered Species, Imperiled Species, Habitats. Web. 30 Sept. 2010. <http://www.defenders.org/programs_and_policy/habitat_conservation/habitat_conservation_basics/sprawl/programs_at_work/oregon_biodiversity_project.php>.

"Oregon's Fish and Wildlife." Oregon Wild. Web. 28 Sept. 2010. http://www.oregonwild.org/fish_wildlife.

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