You have all likely heard the expression that, “nobody is perfect”. Well in a perfect world everyone would be perfect, but that’s not going to happen. But maybe through modern science we can make the world, though not perfect, better by alleviating disease. How can we do this you ask? We can do this by genetically manipulating embryos to do away with inherited diseases, if that could be used in combination with IVF medicines it could be a whole new future.
This may sound like science fiction, something you might see in the movies about a mad scientist. There is one certain movie about dinosaurs that comes to mend whenever the subject of gene splicing and genetic manipulation comes up. But this isn’t science fiction any more, it’s science fact. The NY Times reports peer reviewed research on this subject is about to be published in a well-known scientific journal by National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine. By using the Crispr-Cas9 gene editing tool, researchers can edit the DNA by snipping, slicing, inserting, and deleting genetic material. Preliminary tests with cancer and blindness will be conducting later this year.
What does this mean for you
Well, right now it doesn’t really mean anything to us, but what the future holds may be spectacular. Having a child is a huge responsibility, and along with that responsibility often comes the worry about our children becoming ill. With this type of genetic manipulation you would never have to worry about your child having inherited diseases like cancer or Alzheimer’s disease. You could be sure what your IVF medicines would produce.
Wouldn’t it be nice to know that if nothing else, you could give your child that? That would really be something great. Inheritable diseases aren’t always necessarily passed on, and diseases like diabetes can often be avoided by maintaining a proper healthy diet. But just knowing that you can minimize or eliminate the chances of your child having to endure something like cancer or Alzheimer’s disease would make the decision to have a child a little easier.
Some people are concerned that this ability would be used to make “designer babies” because picking the eye and hair color or even the sex of your baby would be possible with this technology. However, if it were to become common practice surely regulations would prevent that.
Of course the temptation to create the “perfect” man or woman may be too much for some, and militaries would likely desire to create the “perfect” soldier. But using the technology responsibly and only for alleviating human suffering would be the goal.
To read more please check our IVFPrescriptions blog.