Genetic engineering - what do you think?
"In the future, parents might be able to choose what their kids look like.
It's illegal at the minute, but what if a law's passed so that it's not?"
Find out more about genetic engineering
How it works
Every living organism - including humans - carries unique information about itself in a molecule called DNA. Genetic engineering is when scientists change a tiny part of the DNA, called a gene. Different genes control different aspects of the body and personality, including susceptibility to disease as well as things like height and even weight.
Scientists want to be able to control the content of DNA for various reasons: to eliminate disease, or to change how the embryo might look if it were to become a child.
Scientists still don't know much about which genes affect which things, and whether or not testing should be allowed on human embryos (fertilised eggs that are up to eight weeks old) is a hotly debated issue.
Your thoughts
Here's what some message board users had to say about the issue:
- "Why not. Wouldn't you like to have been born perfect?"
- "We are all individuals. We should work on accepting people for who they are, not changing ourselves to become someone else."
- "If it's changing them for the good, how is it logically bad? Haven't you ever wished you could be a 'natural' in school, not having to worry about cancer, maybe being a bit taller...?"
- "It's the top of a slippery slope. What would people do with the technology? How far would people go?"
- "With genetic modification you could solve a lot of dilemmas. You could make someone immune to the effects of smoking - or cancer could be wiped out."
- "What would a world of people who have no personality be like? Nobody would argue or debate. Everyone would go along with it, never questioning anything."
How human embryos develop
- Week one: the egg is fertilised, and cells start splitting and multiplying.
- Week two: the embryo forms a yolk sac and cells that will eventually form a placenta.
- Week three: a primitive heart and spinal cord begins to appear.
- Week four: the heart begins to beat and arms and ears start to develop.
- Week five: the embryo is now 8mm long and begins to develop legs and hands, as well as a basic form of blood.
- Week six: the embryo is 13mm long, and a brain and lungs start to form.
- Week seven: the embryo is 18mm long. Hair follicles and toes start to form, and the embryo begins to move.
