The Third Incision: Designer Babies

In a world of 'Designer' everything, it appears babies aren't the only exception anymore.

Ever since the beginning of human reproduction, babies have always been a guessing game amongst expectant parents. Boy or girl, tall or short, healthy or unhealthy are only a few of the questions that run through the minds of parents when expecting a new addition to the family. However, birth defects, diseases and hereditary disorders are real, and there's always the chance that parents could pass on those genes to their children.

However, medical science has developed a way to bypass some of the 'guessing' when it comes to making babies. With InVitro Fertilization, and a technique known as Pre-Implantation Genetic Diagnosis, scientists can pre-screen embryos to find a select few that are healthy and disease-free. Only these embryos are introduced into the womb to grow into a fetus, and eventually come out as a baby.

I'd like a slightly-tanned baby with blue eyes and a side of brown hair to go, please...

While these medical advances could improve the lives of children born to parents with hereditary diseases and other complications, there are ethical and moral issues that come with altering the genetic makeup of potential babies. Many people believe that tampering with human genetics is morally wrong; this is especially true with many religious groups who believe that the creation of a baby is a sacred rite for a married couple. When they hear the word ‘designer babies’, they immediately assume that parents sit down with a large catalogue and pick out features they want on their future baby. Scientists then enter the lab; tweak the cells to the customer’s liking, before delivering the ‘new and improved’ embryo to the awaiting mother.

The truth of the matter is that science is a long way from this ‘shake and bake’ baby that many people believe. As of today, the most science can do for your future baby is to make sure that it doesn’t grow to develop some sort of medical disease or disorder though PGD. Parents who were afraid to have children due to existing family problems can now have the children they always wanted knowing that they wouldn’t grow up sick. With this technology, abortions due to complications with the growing baby will decrease, and lives will be saved in the future. Many people hope for a world with less suffering, and with PGD, that might be feasible.

“But Patricia!” you might be thinking, “What if science achieves the technology for ‘catalogue babies’? Is that okay?"

Don’t worry, dear reader, changing an embryo’s genetic makeup for a purely aesthetic reason is very wrong. Because that specific type of genetic engineering actually involves some form of disassembling the gene and rebuilding them for the 'right baby', and that is unethical. But if scanning for healthy embryos can save lives and stop abortions, then I see nothing wrong with PGD. Eventually, catalogue babies might become the reality, but I see that happening in the distant future. As of now, the best we have is keeping our babies healthy and disorder-free, and coming from a family with a long history of liver disease, I’m glad we have PGD.

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Information from

• http://www.humansfuture.org/genetic_engineering_designer_babies.php.htm
• http://www.bionetonline.org/english/content/db_cont1.htm
• http://www.actionbioscience.org/biotech/agar.html
• http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/03/designerdebate/

Pictures from

http://www.thelocal.de/articleImages/28319.jpg

http://www.scientificamerican.com/media/inline/regulate-designer-babies_1.jpg

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Look at your blog post, then back at mine. Now back to your blog post, then back at mine. Sadly, it isn't mine, but it can be like mine if I comment on it.

Just like I did to these guys:

Erica Wright, 'Beautiful Babies'

Grace El Khechen , 'Designer Babies...the Future Generation'

Congratulations, I finished Unit Five.

Dumbledore Approves.

The Second Incision: Coral Reefs

(Word count - 500, not including hyperlinks at the end of the page or picture captions)

Coral Reefs, when healthy, are full of life and hosts hundreds of aquatic species.

What are coral reefs? Well, they might look like lifeless structures, but in reality, they are living animals. Belonging to the cnidaria family, coral are stationary animals that depend on tentacles to catch small fish and plankton for nourishment. Each coral animal is known as a polyp, and they live in colonies that range from a hundred members to well over a thousand. While there are two general types of coral, the ones known as 'hard coral' are the ones that make up coral reefs. Made up of hard, calcium carbonate material, millions polyps that fall under the hard coral category come together and form colourful structures that we recognize as coral reefs.

Coral reefs are home to thousands and millions of other species, including fish, lobsters, and seahorses. Due to the large number of other aquatic life that depends on coral reefs for survival, it's safe to say that coral reefs are an integral part of underwater ecology.

Unfortunately, coral reefs are disappearing. Due to human interaction, the number of healthy coral reefs in the world is dwindling faster than the rainforest. The increase of water temperatures due to global warming results in ‘bleached’ coral’, an occurrence in which coral expels algae essential for its survival, and it loses its colour. Pollution, including oil spills and garbage, can severely affect coral reef ecosystems. Trash and other sediments that cover the surface of the water blocks sun from the coral, something that is essential to the polyps and animals living within. Animals can mistake the shadow of discarded trash as food and accidentally consume them, or can be trapped in old fishing nets left behind by visitors. Careless tourism and over-fishing have also contributed to the decline of coral reefs.

But, there are things that humans have been doing to preserve these underwater rainforests. Reef Check is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and protection of tropical coral reefs around the world. It was founded in 1996 by Dr. Gregor Hodgson, a marine ecologist. Reef Check has four main goals: to spread the word about the importance of coral reef ecosystems, to create a global network of volunteers dedicated to helping maintain the coral reefs, to collaborate with other organizations and businesses in finding economical, yet sustainable solutions to the problem, and to work together with the local population in helping with the recovery of damaged reefs.

Reef Check is unique, as it works through the local population, such as divers and fishermen, along with scientists to survey damaged coral reefs. This allows the locals to get information on the coral reef near their homes, and how they can protect and maintain it. Through the research and data gathered by Reef Check surveys, the world now has a clear view on just how serious the damage of coral reefs have gotten. Hopefully, through the continued effort of scientists and local volunteers, we can stop the decline of these majestic coral reefs, and return them to what they once were.

Damaged Coral Reefs are unable to sustain life. Compare this image of a damaged reef to the healthy one at the beginning of the post. Sadly, more reefs around the world look like this, rather than the one at the top.

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Information gathered from:

• http://reefcheck.org/default.php
• http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/coral_species.html
• http://www.coral.org/resources/about_coral_reefs/threats_to_coral_reefs
• http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/08/070807-coral-loss.html
• http://www.iyor.org/reefs/

Pictures from:

http://www.coralreefinfo.com/images/coral_reef.jpg
http://serc.carleton.edu/images/eslabs/corals/coral_reef_blast_damage.jpg

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Look at your blog post, then back at mine. Now back to your blog post, then back at mine. Sadly, it isn't mine, but it can be like mine if I comment on it.

Just like I did to these guys:

Caitlin Cosgrove, Greenpeace

Justin Valmores, WWF

I have to admit, they both deserve a Monacle Smile.

The First Inscision

Hello world of biology. I'm Patricia, and I totally did this last year.

Except this was for another course, Media Arts, to be specific. Ironically, Ms. Saran was also my teacher for that course. Hm, I wonder if there's a connection between last year's blog, and this year's blog...because that wouldn't be surprising at all.

I will end this introduction post with something awesome: