Genetic Engineering: Should Parents Be Allowed to Design Their Children
![handle is hein.journals/howlj34 and id is 163 raw text is: Genetic Engineering: Should Parents Be
Allowed To Design Their Children?
INTRODUCTION
John and Mary, making preparations to have a child, went to
visit their doctor. This visit, however, was not just an ordinary visit.
John and Mary wanted a particular type of child. They wanted a
boy. Additionally, John wanted the child to be tall and Mary wanted
the child to have her hazel brown- eyes. Further, the couple wanted
the child to have enhanced intellectual capacity. The doctor
promptly recorded these requests and assured the couple that their
requests would be satisfied. The procedure would involve a simple
surgery conducted in vitro,' that would require the manipulation
of the developing child's genes.
In this age of rapidly advancing biotechnology, the foregoing
fictional account is not so fictional anymore. Scientists have gained
increasing knowledge about the intricate workings of human cells,
specifically how human cells transfer human traits and characteris-
tics from one generation to another.
In the late 19th century, a man named Gregory Mendel rea-
soned that something called a gene was responsible for a human's
characteristics and functions.2 In the 20th century, scientists, armed
with new technologies, were able to confirm Mendel's hypothesis
about the gene.'
In the 1940's it was discovered that a gene consisted of a simple
molecule called Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA), that was responsible
for transferring genetic information when cells divided.' Scientists
later reasoned that if genes could be intentionally altered, then an
1. Isolated from the living organism and artificially maintained, as in a test tube. WEB-
STER'S NEW WORLD DICTIONARY 742 (2d ed. 1980).
2. J. AREEN. P. KING, S. GOLDBERG & A. CAPRON, LAW. SCIENCE AND MEDICINE
(1984) [hereinafter AREEN & KING].
3. AREEN & KING, supra note 2, at 3.
4. Id. at 4.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/howlj34&div=29&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Genetic Engineering: Should Parents Be Allowed to Design Their Children
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