designed to last forever

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Mar 15, 2008

Are you worried that the techniques of assisted reproduction and genetic manipulation will tempt parents to ask for custom-designed babies? You shouldn't worry too much, according to Debora Spar, who studies the ethics of reproduction.

Spar, a professor at Harvard Business School (not Medical School, not Divinity School; Business School), tells the Boston Globe:

Her research convinced her that most people want to design their babies only to the extent that they can screen out genetic illnesses. "People are doing it to have a child who's not going to die," she said.

A child who's not going to die, you say? Good luck with that.

Wait. Actually there is a way to have a child who's not going to die. But good genes won't do the trick.