Rob is on to something when he says we’ll soon be living in a world where women will “have some of their eggs harvested and frozen in their twenties, spend a couple of decades building a career, and then use the eggs to become pregnant in their forties or fifties.” And there’s reason to think human reproduction might see changes that are even more sweeping.
Consider two new biotech books: Ronald Green’s Babies by Design: The Ethics of Genetic Choice , and John Harris’s Enhancing Evolution: The Ethical Case for Making Better People . (I’m reviewing both of these for the Weekly Standard .)
As preimplantation genetic diagnosis—where IVF embryos are tested for disease before being implanted in a uterus and the diseased are discarded—becomes more widespread, germline (sperm and ova) genetic therapies are perfected, and human cloning is eventually achieved, Harris predicts that parents will “avoid the risk of the genetic roulette that is sexual reproduction and opt for a tried and tested genome of proven virtue.” When all of these options to ensure a genetically healthy child are available, Harris asks “could it be ethical not to be a designer?” The end result, Green explains, is a “world where sex is for fun and reproduction usually takes place in the laboratory.”
Is the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre really right around the corner?
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