Genetic diseases and DNA modification.

@Pii kay Just want to comment on "antibiotics in humans are creating superbugs" It's actually not antibiotics themselves, but the improper use of antibiotics that create superbugs. If any antibiotic which is introduced, is properly followed till schedule by every sick person it targets, then it eliminates all the pathogen and hardly gives chance for mutation and resistance. It's the improper and incomplete use, which lets the pathogen in one's body to develop resistance against it that leads to superbugs. So if at any point an entire nation goes mass immunization or all patients follow the schedule of a newly developed antibiotic properly or if every new born is genetically modified to fight a disease then that disease can be completely eliminated. There are plenty of examples of them~

There's a difference between bacteria or viruses that cause disease and the genetic diseases that they're talking about fixing with gene therapy. Example: One parent has genes for perfect 20/20 vision. Another has a recessive gene that causes near sightedness. If you correct the recessive gene in the child so the kid has 20/20 vision, you're not creating super bugs or resistant bacteria in the process. One has nothing to do with the other. If you think about the complexity of our genetic structure. Mistakes are bound to happen. What gene therapy is about is fixing those mistakes. Things like skeletal deformities caused by genetically uncontrolled bone growth. Or having an oversized heart, which ultimately results in death. The list could go on for miles. If someone told you, "Hey, with your genetics, there's a 25% chance your baby will be born blind. But, we have a way of fixing that." Wouldn't you want that? Or would you prefer to roll the dice on your child's ability to see with those odds? How about people who are clinically depressed simply because of their brain over producing serotonin. You don't think a child would live a happier life if that could be corrected?

As far as designer children are concerned, that depends on how far they take it. Are we talking about adding genetics from a 3rd party? Or are we talking about preventing the passing on of recessive genes that cause genetic abnormalities? If you take the genetics from 2 parents. No matter how you arrange them, you're still limited to the genetic possibilities of those two people, which you're already getting at random. Lets face it. Leaving that to random chance has often enough had some pretty bad outcomes. Even at the level of designer children, I'm still all for increasing children's chances at a better life. If they found a way to do away with baldness or unwanted body hair. Who wouldn't want that? And I agree 100% with the other comments. Unless they can make huge profits off of it. There's no way the healthy industry will agree to making 1 and done cures. They make way more money on medications that treat symptoms, which you'll have to continue buying your whole life.