Debate Opening Statement

My debate topic is Should Parents Be Able To Manipulate Their Children’s DNA.


When any living organism decides to produce offspring, a mixture of both parents DNA are given to the offspring, allowing them to gain a unique set of characteristics not everyone are capable of having. In recent studies, scientist have come up with an idea to manipulate, or change, unborn babies DNA. This method is called Genetic Engineering (GE). Changing a child’s DNA seems unmoral and unreasonably cruel. It is unfair to that child that he or she did not have a choice in the way they wanted to look.
If the GE fails, and diseases are transmitted to the child, those mistakes cannot be fixed. It is, with great knowledge that trying to create traits of an human being by technology can be crucial if not done properly. The health of the child may be risky, dangerous, and damaging to the body and mind.
Already, scientist have proposed an idea of changing an unborn babies gender and eye color, which subtracts from the mystery of what he or she may look like if nothing has been genetically changed. The fun of seeing the outcome of what a baby appears to look like, would be ruined and weird in a robotic way. If every parent were to choose what their baby should look like, many children may look the same. Evolution would be changed. The human race would be one race ethnically instead of plenty. In other words, I believe choosing DNA will decrease human diversity.
I think that this method messes with the work of mother nature--allows man to, once again, control yet another thing, but this time it’s controlling the appearance of another human being. A scientist who studies this method since 2001, Joao Pedro de Magalhaes, stated in one of his long essays about Genetic Engineering: “To incorporate in the genome genes that can offer protection during cryopreservation for long space trips.” This study goes beyond the fact that DNA can be changed. it will get to that odd, freaky point where scientist create super humans.
“Assuming the procedure is safe, I see no reason to stop someone from not only eliminating genetic errors but improving his/her children from an aesthetic point a view.”
“. Besides the obvious
ENDING: I believe that every person has a right to his or her own individuality.life-extension procedures, we might be able to turn ourselves more physically resistant in all sorts of manners. Making our skin and bones harder, making us stronger, improving our stamina, giving us super-intelligence, minimizing pain and overall optimizing our biochemistry.”