I can’t wait to have a baby now I know
we’re all thinking she’s just a kid but
I’ve got it all figured out
first I’ll attend my dream college then
start my dream job
of course marry my dream husband and
together we’ll design our dream baby
I’ve always wanted a baby with blue eyes
and dark hair maybe a little bit of a
stigmatism because babies with glasses
are cute really
by the time I’m gonna be able to have
children I’m gonna be able to decide the
height the intelligence and any desired
trait this sounds like a dream doesn’t
it being able to design your perfect
child actually being able to design
generations and generations but who is
giving consent to this
certainly not the unborn baby I mean who
are we to alter millions of years of
evolution just for a baby with blue eyes
a high IQ end world-class speed we have
the technology to play God to mess with
nature
it’s called CRISPR put a funny name with
CRISPR we can cut out undesired parts of
DNA and replace them with arbitrarily
generated desirable traits does it still
sound like a dream picture this in 15
years you and your partner have a normal
child which means that she’s not
genetically modified let’s say her name
is Maya your neighbors on the other hand
decided to go down a different path and
named their genetically modified
daughter Emma now emma is smarter
prettier more talented and
scientifically proven to be better than
your child she’s the perfect child
perfectly designed but there has always
been something off about her she has to
go to a different school
lead a different life life which is very
different from that of your child I mean
after all she’s a designer baby
perhaps a trophy child Emma lives just
next door and somehow you know that she
never gets sick she never gets hurt or
trips lately she’s definitely an asset
to the government who will most likely
never have to spend large sums of money
for her health care
well then maybe even the government
might start to promote the production of
designer babies and your little Maya
will find herself alone filled in a
world with perfect humans it wouldn’t be
the first time that the government
controlled or tried to control child
birth whether the number the mental or
the physical qualities of the offspring
a modern example could be China’s
one-child policy but I think that the
most frightening example of eugenics was
during the Nazi period Hitler wanted a
superior race the Aryan race he went
through great lengths to achieve this
firstly by concentration camps and then
by sterilizing for executing individuals
which he judged to be handicapped or
credence is this the world that you want
your children to inherit is this what
you want our race to become oh and Maya
you’ll love her just as much with her
messy hair slightly asymmetrical nose
and that little cough which never seems
to go away but maybe just maybe you
won’t be able to stop yourself from
comparing her to her friend Emma and
trust me when I say that you won’t be
the only one so will colleges employers
potential mates and what if one day she
comes back crying asking why am I not
like Emma all you know is that society
has changed between your child and Emma
there’s an abyss a superior race has
been born and your child does not belong
to it it’s time to ask ourselves really
important questions like who are we what
will be become and who will decide IVF
is a modern example of designer Bay
selective breeding which is a type of
baby designing has been around for
thousands of years IVF is already an
accepted way of reproducing for
infertile parents or those who run the
risk of passing on dangerous genetic
diseases in other words it’s already a
method of bypassing natural evolution
now imagine being a parent who decided
to reproduce using IVF and the doctor
mentions that for an extra $1,000 he can
eliminate the risk for your child of
ever getting Alzheimer’s now I’m pretty
sure that each and every one of you
would accept his offer because as a
parent everyone wants the best for his
or her child whether the best job best
education or the best genetic trait
parents are already influencing their
child’s life so much by imposing a
religion and education sometimes even a
hobby so why not give them the best
traits they need to thrive in the
society they live in in other words a
virtual guarantee of success
now this reality seems far away almost
as if it was a post-apocalyptic movie
but but it’s actually closer than what
you might imagine experimenters in China
have already tested this technology on
human embryos now I do not go too well
but these are only the early stages of
the trial the good news is that we have
an excuse to avoid the production of
designer babies they are simply too
dangerous but what about when this is
not an excuse anymore the first child
born from IVF came to light a little
over 40 years ago and since then 5
million children have been born through
that technology 5 million and 4 decades
that’s a lot now a tire like Emma may
not be too far away and the choices
scientists make will define and maybe
tear apart society as we know it but
then again where do you draw the line
the
between saving a life and creating a
trophy child and most importantly who
will draw that line think about your own
children for a second is there anything
you would change about us except that
we’re always asking you for money and if
that answer is yes do you still want a
perfect child now about the baby I can
wait thank you
[Applause]
we’re all thinking she’s just a kid but
I’ve got it all figured out
first I’ll attend my dream college then
start my dream job
of course marry my dream husband and
together we’ll design our dream baby
I’ve always wanted a baby with blue eyes
and dark hair maybe a little bit of a
stigmatism because babies with glasses
are cute really
by the time I’m gonna be able to have
children I’m gonna be able to decide the
height the intelligence and any desired
trait this sounds like a dream doesn’t
it being able to design your perfect
child actually being able to design
generations and generations but who is
giving consent to this
certainly not the unborn baby I mean who
are we to alter millions of years of
evolution just for a baby with blue eyes
a high IQ end world-class speed we have
the technology to play God to mess with
nature
it’s called CRISPR put a funny name with
CRISPR we can cut out undesired parts of
DNA and replace them with arbitrarily
generated desirable traits does it still
sound like a dream picture this in 15
years you and your partner have a normal
child which means that she’s not
genetically modified let’s say her name
is Maya your neighbors on the other hand
decided to go down a different path and
named their genetically modified
daughter Emma now emma is smarter
prettier more talented and
scientifically proven to be better than
your child she’s the perfect child
perfectly designed but there has always
been something off about her she has to
go to a different school
lead a different life life which is very
different from that of your child I mean
after all she’s a designer baby
perhaps a trophy child Emma lives just
next door and somehow you know that she
never gets sick she never gets hurt or
trips lately she’s definitely an asset
to the government who will most likely
never have to spend large sums of money
for her health care
well then maybe even the government
might start to promote the production of
designer babies and your little Maya
will find herself alone filled in a
world with perfect humans it wouldn’t be
the first time that the government
controlled or tried to control child
birth whether the number the mental or
the physical qualities of the offspring
a modern example could be China’s
one-child policy but I think that the
most frightening example of eugenics was
during the Nazi period Hitler wanted a
superior race the Aryan race he went
through great lengths to achieve this
firstly by concentration camps and then
by sterilizing for executing individuals
which he judged to be handicapped or
credence is this the world that you want
your children to inherit is this what
you want our race to become oh and Maya
you’ll love her just as much with her
messy hair slightly asymmetrical nose
and that little cough which never seems
to go away but maybe just maybe you
won’t be able to stop yourself from
comparing her to her friend Emma and
trust me when I say that you won’t be
the only one so will colleges employers
potential mates and what if one day she
comes back crying asking why am I not
like Emma all you know is that society
has changed between your child and Emma
there’s an abyss a superior race has
been born and your child does not belong
to it it’s time to ask ourselves really
important questions like who are we what
will be become and who will decide IVF
is a modern example of designer Bay
selective breeding which is a type of
baby designing has been around for
thousands of years IVF is already an
accepted way of reproducing for
infertile parents or those who run the
risk of passing on dangerous genetic
diseases in other words it’s already a
method of bypassing natural evolution
now imagine being a parent who decided
to reproduce using IVF and the doctor
mentions that for an extra $1,000 he can
eliminate the risk for your child of
ever getting Alzheimer’s now I’m pretty
sure that each and every one of you
would accept his offer because as a
parent everyone wants the best for his
or her child whether the best job best
education or the best genetic trait
parents are already influencing their
child’s life so much by imposing a
religion and education sometimes even a
hobby so why not give them the best
traits they need to thrive in the
society they live in in other words a
virtual guarantee of success
now this reality seems far away almost
as if it was a post-apocalyptic movie
but but it’s actually closer than what
you might imagine experimenters in China
have already tested this technology on
human embryos now I do not go too well
but these are only the early stages of
the trial the good news is that we have
an excuse to avoid the production of
designer babies they are simply too
dangerous but what about when this is
not an excuse anymore the first child
born from IVF came to light a little
over 40 years ago and since then 5
million children have been born through
that technology 5 million and 4 decades
that’s a lot now a tire like Emma may
not be too far away and the choices
scientists make will define and maybe
tear apart society as we know it but
then again where do you draw the line
the
between saving a life and creating a
trophy child and most importantly who
will draw that line think about your own
children for a second is there anything
you would change about us except that
we’re always asking you for money and if
that answer is yes do you still want a
perfect child now about the baby I can
wait thank you
[Applause]
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