An example from the readings about CRISPR technology that both excites and frightens me is the picking and choosing of human traits within an embryo. This is exciting because in regard to parents who have genetic defects and diseases that are transferable to children, they can now have a biological child without the genetic problems being passed down to them. Another exciting prospect is that people can then choose traits with which to give their kids, to reflect perhaps better things that the parents might think is best. The frightening part about this however is that parents are gonna have a harder time loving their childrens imperfections if they are not exactly how they tried to design them. This also could lead to a society of only a few people being “perfect” beings who are the strongest and best looking, however those who cannot afford such expensive genetic modification of their children will be left as “impurities” in the perfect eyes of the rich and powerful.
I do not think gene editing should be performed on humans. This will only lead to an even greater class gap and make the rich and powerful literally physically and perhaps mentally better than those who cannot afford such rigorous gene picking and choosing. Another aspect of this not being performed on humans is the unforeseen consequences that could arise from such a non needed advancement in technology. The unknown future of these editing techniques could cause catastrophic genetic damage down the line on the human race due to us not understanding what could happen with this technology. The damages done by genetic engineering could be permanent and catastrophic and are not worth whatever pro’s may arise from using it.