Scientists focus on gene editing to eliminate certain debilitating hereditary diseases, but the technology could accomplish a lot more. Recently, the team at Superdrug surveyed the public on what they would modify in their future children if they could, and the results are surprising.
According to the survey, carried out by Superdrug Online Doctor, prospective parents who viewed baby modification as ethical explained that they would most likely alter their child to make them healthier and more intelligent, followed by increased creativity and attractiveness.
When it came to specific physical characteristics, Europeans answered that they would genetically modify their child to be a blonde-haired blued-eyed girl of average height. Americans, on the other hand, identified their ideal child as a black-haired blued-eyed male of above average height. In addition, Americans were far more concerned with adjusting the athletic ability of their children than Europeans, which may explain why more Americans would prefer to have a male child while Europeans would be happier with a female.
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Related on the SLP
Many parents would be willing to pay up, the SuperDrug survey revealed…About a quarter of the parents were willing to pay more than $10,000 to modify their child’s intelligence, although most put the limit between $1,000 and $2,000.
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: Genetically Modified Babies: Here’s What People Would Change If They Could Modify Children’s Genes
