If you could tinker with the genetics of your child, would you?

The Obvious Question

This episode’s question comes word-for-word from a recent tweet from Peter Diamondis. Peter Diamondis is the Chairmen of the Space X Foundation and generally accepted super forward thinker (along with guys like Elon Musk and Ray Kurzweil). Peter’s tweet points back to his blog, (http://www.diamandis.com/blog/designer-babies). In his blog entry, he points to the absolutely incredible advances in genetics that are here today and some that are only a heartbeat away - things like reproduction without sex, genetically modifying a fetus in the womb, and freezing eggs and sperm in donors’ twenties for use when they’re in their forties. But for all the incredible science that this represents, it comes with huge ethical questions - in some cases, they are the ultimate example of, “just because you can do something, does that mean that you should?”, and where do you draw the line? As you’ll hear, we wrestle with this question - we wonder if there is a slippery slope to things that are absolutely a good idea, to those that are way out of line and doomed to come back and bite us. So what do you think? What else do we need to think of that we’re missing? Check out the conversation and then let us know what you think at obviousquestion.wordpress.com or on our FaceBook page @obviousquestion Subscribe to The Obvious Question podcast here or wherever you get your podcasts.