The Cellar / Is she doing the right thing?

**Posted by monster** 4/20/2025 10:01 am

Influencer opts for IVF to eliminate the gene that molded her

Of course it's not that simple.... do you think what she's doing is right?

**Posted by Happy Monkey** 4/20/2025 12:49 pm

I see no problems with that. For me, the ethical issues only arise when people start selecting for cosmetic reasons. And in that situation, while I find it icky in general, the specific issue is for the child who may feel they were "designed" by the parent, and therefore feel as if they were property of the parent. I know that some parents instill that feeling anyway, without any scientific intervention, but being a "designer baby" would increase the pressure on that front.

**Posted by monster** 4/20/2025 3:51 pm

Aside from the "when does life begin" aspect, I know that some struggle with the idea that "weeding out" a gene that makes people blind (for example) is implying that those people are lesser people -and yet here she is, a very successful blind person due in part to her condition.... But -especially in this case- the gene causes other health problems and death or severe impairment for males, I really don't think I have an issue with this either.

Last edited by monster (4/23/2025 8:32 pm)

**Posted by glatt** 4/23/2025 7:56 am

It is hard to argue in favor of blindness, so I'm not going to.

But I wonder if we have learned any lessons from history about unintended consequences of making a decision about Mother Nature simply because we didn't understand the bigger picture. Is removing a gene like this similar to introducing a wonderful new plant to the Americas that cattle just love to eat and that would secure soil in the dust bowl? And then Kudzo proceeds to swallow the South.

And then I think of selective breeding of animals, like for example, the bulldog, that have been bred to be a certain way and are unhealthy for it. Can you imagine what people would do if there are no limits?

I think we need to be cautious with IVF gene editing.

**Posted by griff** 4/24/2025 6:43 am

There is a lot to unpack here. Pete's cousin was a hearing child raised in a deaf home. The deaf culture is recognizably different. The community is tight and tends toward religiosity. There is a lot of pushback against being "fixed" because that special culture will dilute with a move towards hearing. As an aside her cousin got to be the cool kid in her neighborhood because cranking stadium rock at home didn't bother her parents..