​Genetically Modified Humans

Genetically Modified Humans
I marvelled at how I could experience diverse emotions all at the same time over the result of the groundbreaking experiments which made it possible for scientists to genetically altered inherited diseases in human embryo. Through the process of gene editing, scientists have been able to repair disease causing mutation. This is really simply amazing as inherited diseases can be altered from an embryo and the baby grown without a trace of any condition in his gene. He will end up ofcourse passing the no trait condition to his offspring. They will live without the disease that had plagued relatives they inherited it from.

Though none of the embryo used in those experiments have been left to survive for more than few days, the genetical engineering was successful and proved to be promising as humans liable to inherit terminal diseases ranging from heart conditions, diabetes, hypertension, cancer, and other deadly ailments could possibly have their genes altered while in embryo form and traces of the disease deleted like a button from their DNA.

This new breakthrough in science has ended up been a matter of ethics in some quarters and it is quite understandable. There are contemplations that the world will see a new breed of designer babies and new set of humans who are genetically modified to be taller, smarter, extremely attractive, and maybe super human. These are with loads of consequences the world is not ready to deal with. These consequences may range from social and cultural issues as there may arise a new form of eugenic in which people with means to pay for genetic editing do so with huge amount of money to have designer babies with certain traits altered. The world may be at the edge of experiencing customised babies.

I have always supported stem cells research for example, as long as its adult stem cells used and not from embryo. This recent development is a matter of getting gravel and Mayoinnaise in the mouth at the same time. One can't just swallow. The matter of handling embryo for the purpose of an experiments, and the fact that certain complications people may live with can be erased and re-written like erasing a bad write up, or editing an error from a passage.

Teju Duru is a freelance journalist based in Ibadan.