Ethical Analysis/ Principle

Modifying Embryos is unethical in our eyes for many reasons. The little information we know about this can cause error and can lead to creations we don’t know how to fix. By starting something like this now, we are making huge decisions for our future because of the unknown effects it will have on people and society. By modifying embryos, we are going against the morals we have been taught. Doing this completely takes away the right to be truly who you are, disease or no disease that’s how we were made. If the modifications take a turn for the worse years down the road, parents will be affected because they are the ones that said yes to this. The kids will also be affected because they are a part of something that can change their lives dramatically. These young/new born children don't have a clue that the procedure took place, which is very unethical. In an article, Dr. Green said, the counterargument is that parents already make many decisions that affect their future children (Green, 2019). We have been taught to fight and work hard for what we want and modifying embryos at birth to make us taller, shorter, or more athletic goes against that. This is also wrong because modifying babies' embryos we are basically making a super person. These people will be better at sports, will be healthier, and we will be free from disease and that is unfair to the people who weren’t created like that. Modifying embryos would mostly be for the wealthy because of how expensive it is, which restricts everyone from being able to do it if they wish.

According to the Center for Genetics and Society, “editing the genes of human embryos in order to create genetically modified people is very different, and raises grave safety, social, and ethical concerns"( n.d., para. 5). The article continues to describe how modifying and editing embryos could cause irreversible harms to the health of the future children. Many questions are brought up about modifying embryos such as “What’s wrong with creating genetically modified humans?” The Center for Genetics and Society explains that “efforts to genetically engineer future children and generations would be unsafe, medically unnecessary, and profoundly damaging to social justice and human rights"( n.d., para. 2) They continue on by saying that, it could potentially lead to biological discrimination because the future society would lead to inequalities and be based on what you do or do not have. Another question that arises is if people should start caring about gene editing even if they aren’t first hand involved. The Center for Genetics and Society says that, “some new technology can dramatically alter our lives and societies. We should choose and shape them democratically"( n.d., para. 4).