The Commited MAY 2015 | Page 65

TED BURSA COLLEGE / 9-B Editing Children’s Genomes Selen GÜNERİ Having kids is a wonderful miracle for many people. It is mostly exciting for the parents because the baby’s gender, health conditions and other characteristics are not chosen by them. However, playing with the genetics of babies, erases the chances and surprises. I do not think we should edit children’s genomes because it is not natural, it is very risky and it might increase the imbalance of genders. Playing with genomes of a baby kills naturalness. People nowadays spend a lot of time and money on trying to live their life more natural. Not having the baby the way it is, instead changing its features, would be against this whole point of view. Besides, according to many religions, not liking and editing on something created by God is not appropriate. To replace any characteristics of an unborn child would contradict with naturality. other serious problems in the future such as, not having equal opportunities. Parents having the right to edit their baby’s features is very likely to cause gender imbalance. To sum up, having babies is a natural miracle and editing the genomes is against the main point of it. I do not think baby’s genomes should be edited on because it kills naturality, caries big risks and is likely to increase gender inequalities. Changing a baby’s genomes is a big risk to take. This editing does not only prevent genetic disorders, it may also cause them. In addition, after the child is born, he or she can face psychological issues due to lack of self-confidence. Hence, editing children’s genomes has very big and possible risks. Sexism around the world is a big problem and people being able to choose their children’s gender would increase this. To illustrate, if male babies are more wanted in the world right now, parents are more likely to choose having male babies. Giving them this opportunity would only disturb the natural balance of genders. Genders being unbalanced may lead to