Fertility Clinic Will Soon Offer Designer Babies

Don't tell Octomom: Within six months, a fertility clinic with offices in NY and LA will begin letting parents choose the eye and hair color of their babies. Dr. Jeffrey Steinberg, who helped produce the first test-tube baby, says he's already helped thousands of parents choose their child's gender, and further manipulation of infants' genes—known in the biz as preimplantation genetic diagnosis, or PGD—is inevitable. Of course, right-to-life advocates are outraged because embryos deemed undesirable will be destroyed. And Dr. Daniel Sulmasy, director of ethics at New York Medical College, tells the Daily News, "We're crossing the line into eugenics, the theory of trying to give people enhanced characteristics—genetic engineering to make sort of the superman or superwoman." But Steinberg shrugs off such hand-wringing: "Genetic health is the wave of the future. It's already happening and it's not going to go away. It's going to expand. So if they've got major problems with it, they need to sit down and really examine their own consciences because there's nothing that's going to stop it." Steinberg concluded the interview by screwing his bionic arm into his shoulder socket and thrashing the genetically-inferior News reporter to within an inch of his life.

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By John Del Signore in News on March 3, 2009 11:44 AM

Comments [rss]

Parmenides

I often find myself both excited and concerned when reading of the breakthroughs of scientist. Excited for their abilities as a scientist but concerned about their lack of forethought towards the uses to which their work may be applied. Shouldn't scientist have some moral responsibility that urges them to question the consequences of their work?

Snoopy

Stop moaning Nanny she looks just like you. Even down to the dimples.

NannyState

"No she doesn't! Stop saying that! I hate all of you! Look what you did to me! Look, you bastards!"

Snoopy

There's always Dr. Zitsmore to help you. You can find his ads on most subway trains.

NannyState

"I told you I wanted Mylie Cyrus and just look at her: look at that crooked smile. You promised Mylie and now I have to raise and feed this goddamn freak! You take it back or I'm suing you for everything you've got, you fucking quack!"

Thelonius Funk

This is pretty sad.

Snoopy

It's almost as sad as people who after having all the tests to see if the baby will come out without having three arms don't want to know if it's a boy or a girl.

The technology is there, maybe, so use it. Otherwise go out in the bushes and squat like they did in the old days.

Snoopy

Who knows what pope it was in the nineteenth century that refused any new form of technology?

If more "junk" fetuses were aborted this world would be a better place. It's not like the world is lacking for people.

Clarice City

This is really sick. Since when do humans get to decide the physical outcome of another human being?

Snoopy

If people were meant to fly they would have wings.

Armchair_warrior

hitler has won and the age of the aryans has come.

americans love blonde hair and blue eyes!!!

i personally find brunettes hot!

Snoopy

Guys with blonde hair kind of look goofy. I haven't met a single blonde haired guy that could carry on a conversation past the "Hello, my name is Jorg Svenson, I work for IKEA, vat is yours?"

Shinobi Shaw

But notice he said EUGENICS?! Look into EUGENICS people, that's the kind of thing the Nazis were involved in for fuck sake.

Selective breeding etc.

On paper it looks good and cutting edge, in execution it probably is not.

QM

In a few more generations, everyone will look slavic.

Brado

This sounds awesome. There are too many ugly/fat/poor people out there ruining my day.

PFCheungs

Oh the irony of a jew doctor dictating hair and eye color after Hitler's experiments to accomplish the same thing.

Felix Hoenikker

I heard his next plan is to engineer out the foreskin, putting mohels everywhere out of business.

NannyState

Not for long: the next rational career choice for any displaced Mohel is divorce attorney.

babyhitler

this is the way we should go. Isn't mankind supposed to strive for greatness? I mean we could do it naturally but it would take millions of years to create an ubermensch or a kwisatz haderach. Look at who's having the most babies! poor uneducated ugly people. That's not going to cut it if we are going to leave memes and genes that are going to change the world. The only downside is that we might create a super zombie vampire with a taste for human flesh. But whatever.

chris

http://xkcd.com/550/ poor pregnant people leaving memes to children?

+1 on the dune ref.

chris

Tell me when I can actually have designer babies, still too much risk of an ugly one with the right hair and eye color.

Guest

"Of course, right-to-life advocates are outraged because embryos deemed undesirable will be destroyed."

There's an easy solution to this problem. Instead of destroying the unused embryos, send them all to the right-to-lifers to do with as they please.

Snoopy

What do Brazilian Boyz think about this?

Steven

This is sounding a lot like the The Island

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0399201/

Spirit of 76

"Genetic health is the wave of the future."

It probably is, doc, but what this clinic is doing has nothing to do with health. It's about looks. It's one thing to decide not to use an embryo because it has some terrible disease, but quite another to get rid of it because it has the wrong color hair or eyes.

Spirit of 76

More like Gattaca.

Qraymond

“What everyone needs to do is calm down, take a deep breath, and prepare their bodies for the Thunderdome.”

-Tracy Jordan

I'm going to keep quoting him as long as it's appropriate.