Should we mess with human genes? Should we correct birth defects?

To be honest I think genetic engineering has both good and bad qualities about it. I will now list the pros and cons.

PROS: With genetic engineering, perhaps stuff kids are born with, like autism or Down's syndrome for example, could be cured with genetic engineering and maybe even totally wiped out someday.

CONS: There could be some unhealthiness and danger to it. I don't think we should do it a lot yet considering it's not all that old so we have to be careful, but I guess it can be good to experiment on a few things.

Alexlike : Well it depends...
The good- We could use it to fix problems with birth defects and other things that go wrong.
The bad- Sasly there are many more bad things than good. People could uses it to create a "super race" somewhat that Hitler wished he could do, and experimented with. It's also trying to play as God, and I know i ain't God, and I don't wanna try to be.

We should fix birth defects if we have the power, but with all great breakthroughs there is always someone who will abuse it. So I say go for it.

I think we should really look into it. We could cure whole epidemics. If we knew how we could modify the DNA structure so that we are immune to AIDS and HIV. If god allows us to develop it then why question whether or not we should use this knowledge?

Definitely worth it, if used for right purposes.
Yet people have so different ideas what is "right", so it can backfire.
But I think of it this way: every time something good is made, some bad comes along
and the other way. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't try at all.

Honestly, I think it's all good fun. We should mess around with it as much as we like, and make a race far superior and more capable than we are now. Of course there would be purists, and they could choose to not get enhancements done for their children, and probably when something goes wrong they'll be the last ones alive. But if we can develop the science and get it all working good and fine, then great, more power to us. As long as we test solely on humans, and don't mess around tinkering it on other species. That could have monstrous and disastrous unforeseen consequences, primarily because the majority of animal testing isn't applicable to humans. For example, some animals don't get cancer from cigarettes, and yet it's proven that humans do. It took us so long to figure that out because we tested it on animals and they seemed fine, but that's because they weren't susceptible to it, they're too different from humans. As long as it stays human only, I think it's fine. Wouldn't you love to see some ten foot 400 pound steroid pumped monsters play crazy intense football like no one has ever seen it before?

gene engineering has already gratly affected common life. its a good thing, aand always will be

i think it would be great you could make people for future jobs and make people restant to thing and we could make the super solder

Maybe but not until it's more safe if you messed with the fetus it might get worse

Well there are Pros and Cons. But there are alought more cons. such as the food we eat IS KILLING US. Yeah that's tight corn is in 75% perent of the food on the super market. And they change it, and not for the better.

genetic engineering is brilliant why would god want to make us live through birth defects when we can prevent them, that dosen't seem god like.
Also about playing god to make a super race, it dosen't have to mean make them all aryan but if the research means we can be the healthiest, fullest and perfect versions of ourselves, why not?

In my opinion this is bettering man kind, curing diseases bringing back perfect health, if i rememebr correctly thats what Jesus came to Earth doing... Im not tryign to sound up my own butt here but i dont see why people frown on genetic engineering at all if its helping people.

I am fine with genetic engineering, but only to a certain extent. I am against genetic engineering in humans. Your basically playing God. I saw a movie called GATTACA one day. It took place in a future where we could cure genetic diseases and even choose which traits you want your kid to have. Naturally, this became a fad with parents across the globe. This lead to segregation based on genetic traits, almost to the point where you were either genetically perfect, or genetically imperfect. And you really had no control over your life. The human life was regulated by genetic engineers. The protagonist was a man who's parents were purist at the time of his birth. Thus his heart condition was not cured. He strived to become an astronaut and almost made it, only to be turned away because he was not genetically perfect. ">https://www.vizzed.com/boards/cuteeditor_files/Style/SyntaxHighlighter.css);

I have no qualms about playing god,since i dont believe in one.advancement is a good goal to strive for, if i was to be 'impure' and 'play god' but be superior to what i am right now i wouldnt hesitate.

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thenumberone : That was not my point. If you strive to be better, then more power to you. However my purpose for referencing the movie, was to point out the very real danger of this being taken too far. In GATTACA, the ability to choose what traits your unborn child will exhibit, caused segregation on a global scale. As a result, if you exhibited the traits to be a swimmer, than you HAD to be a swimmer. If you tried to be something other than a swimmer, you would be turned away almost immediately, because of your genetic traits. Society had gotten to the point where it didn't matter what kind of person you were, or what your values were, or anything. The only thing that mattered was your genetic makeup and in turn what traits you exhibited. If this were to happen, then the U.S. would be no better than a Communist country.