Adam Nash was considered the first “designer baby,” and was born in Colorado in the year 2000. He was chosen specifically out of a group of embryos because his embryo did not carry a gene fault that would result in a genetic disorder that affected his sister. His parents planned to use his healthy bone marrow in an operation his sister needed because of her gene fault. Just four months after his birth, both he and his sister went home after a successful bone marrow transplant.

Instead of picking and choosing a “designer baby” from among various embryos to determine which child would be the best to give birth to, A Chinese scientist used CRISPR, or a highly precise gene editing tool, to splice together a perfect set of twins. He went in and changed their DNA strands to make the babies resistant to any future HIV infection. The resulting twins were born in November of 2018.

Because CRISPR changes the DNA strand in an embryo, any alteration will be passed to the baby’s future children. In the Chinese experiment, the changes made on the embryos were deemed unethical. There was not enough evidence to say if the editing worked or if there would be harm that occurred because of gene alteration, making all editing experiential. There has been no time to gather research on long-term effects or discover any unintended side effects of such editing.

CRISPR has been used in many different areas of research– many of which are controversial and experimental. Because of this technology, there have been incredible advancements in various fields of research, but it also has led to questionable ethical situations.

Creating a “designer baby,” where genes, temperaments, athletic ability and more can be determined at conception raises many red flags. The rapid increase in CRISPR technologies is outpacing regulations that can be put in place to keep children safe from the experimental nature of gene editing technology. “Just because we can do something doesn’t mean we should. To avoid the trap of falling into a technocracy, humans must govern technology, not the reverse. At the same time, we must avoid the trap of becoming Luddites. New biotechnologies hold the potential to cure and prevent disease, to promote human flourishing—but only if the deployment of technology is governed by morality.”

Senate Bill 866 adds onto a preexisting bill that allows children at the age of 12 to access birth control and abortions, as well as receive treatment for STIs, drug and alcohol related disorders and mental health disorders. With Bill 866, adolescents can also receive FDA approved vaccines without parental input or knowledge. Laws like this force children to make adult decisions when they may not be able to understand the consequences of such decisions.