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Research Paper Name Institutional Affiliation Course Date Gene Editing and Designer Babies and Ethical Dilemma Introduction Technological innovations and advancement have been integral in improving human operations and performance in different fields. Certainly, healthcare has been among the fields most significantly impacted by technology, thereby enhancing quality care and service delivery among patients. Technological innovations have prompted improvement in healthcare, especially in the human genetic engineering and reproduction department (Joseph et al., 2022). Medical researchers and healthcare professionals have enhanced reproduction by tapping into human gene modification. Through human genetic engineering and technology, healthcare has managed to improve artificial reproduction and conception, leading to the development of designer babies. This technological and scientific innovation has elicited numerous debates and questions regarding the ethical principles around human gene modification and the artificial development of human babies (Sanjay & Hari Prasath, 2023). With a particular section of proponents supporting this practice and another section being opposed to human genetic engineering, the development of designer babies remains an ethical dilemma in our society. Review Genetic modification and editing have been advancing tremendously through healthcare and life science technology. Biomedical engineers have made notable progress in testing and editing the human DNA to alter one's gene code. It is worth highlighting that human DNA strands contain nucleotides, usually in a particular sequence. Medical scientists and biotech engineers target these nucleotides in the DNA strands, thereby modifying the human gene (Joseph et al., 2022). The modification process involves three distinctive practices. These include erasing a nucleotide from the gene strand, modifying its presence and giving it mutative characteristics, or adding a nucleotide into the gene strand (Sanjay & Hari Prasath, 2023). Ideally, this process has been enhanced by CRISPR technology, the tool biotech and medical engineers use to modify the embryo and give it desired characteristics. CRISPR is the simplest gene-modifying tool that has been technologically improved and has progressed throughout the history of human gene modification. It is essential to understand that gene editing technology started in the mid-twentieth century when medical researchers and biotechnological engineers discovered DNA, formerly the double helix (Sanjay & Hari Prasath, 2023). This occurred in 1953 by Franklin Rosalind, James Watson and Crick Francis. As technology progressed in the twentieth century, biomedical engineers continued recombining different genome codes and developing various recombinant DNA sequences. In 1981, Thomas Wagner developed the first transgeneric animal. Wagner's project involved introducing a rabbit's foreign genome into a mouse to create a transgeneric animal. In the late twentieth century, scientists advanced genetic engineering by developing insulin, the first drug genetically engineered in the laboratory by Kleid Dennis and genetic engineer Goeddel David. Nonetheless, it is essential to note that human gene modification and sequencing did not begin until the late 1990s and early twenty-first century (Ball, 2017). Initially, biotechnological engineers and scientists focused on modifying the entire human DNA. The information and knowledge acquired through this breakthrough helped biotech and medical professionals understand the human gene strand was linked to different human responses. In 2012, human gene modification had a breakthrough, with Dr Charpentier and Doudna discovering CRISPR (Ball, 2017). The discovery of CRISPR has made gene editing techniques easier and cheaper with its ability to target, modify and cut a specific section of the human genome. Hence, it has become the human gene editing tool. CRISPR Clustered, regularly interspaced palindromic repeats, also known in short form as CRISPR, is the simplified gene modifying tool discovered by two female biomedical engineers and scientists in 2012 (Ball, 2017). After thorough experiments and tests on human gene modification, Dr Doudna Jennifer and Dr Charpentier Emmanuelle discovered CRISPR-Cas9, which helped genetic engineers modify the human genome easily and efficiently by targeting the immunity bacteria in the human genome. The two female biomedical scientists rapidly developed this system over tests and trials by targeting the Cas enzymes in nucleotides. Notably, these enzymes help cut the genome and duplicate the RNA to create double strands (Ball, 2017). Notably, by giving the human genome a different RNA sequence, biomedical engineers and medical scientists can edit the human genome at any point of the strand and introduce desired nucleotides. As noted in the discussion review, CRISPR-CAS9 allows medical scientists to modify human DNA strands through three biomedical mechanisms. One way this editing tool achieves this biochemical process is through gene knock-out. CRISPR-Cas9 creates double-stranded cuts in the DNA strand. This initiates a repair mechanism within the cells through the human genome repairing pathways (Joseph et al., 2022). When this occurs, insertions and deletions of repairing pathways are created. This makes the genome non-functional, thus resulting in gene knock-out. Furthermore, CRISPR-Cas9 also enhances gene editing through a gene knock-in mechanism. This occurs when the double-stranded cuts happen, and the nucleus cells repair themselves, allowing researchers to insert new nucleotides into the double-stranded break (Bansal, 2024). Indeed, at this stage, biomedical engineers can insert an entire gene or a required piece of nucleotide into the human DNA, thus exhibiting a gene knock-in mechanism. The third approach involves using the gene modifying tool to regulate how the human genome in the body expresses itself. Understandably, this mechanism is usually achieved by activating and interfering with the CRISPR tool in the genome pathways by infusing the Cas9 gene variant (Bansal, 2024). The most commonly used genetically modified variant is the dead Cas9 genome. This genome helps reduce gene expression through CRISPR interference and allows scientists to increase the genome's expression characteristics through CRISPR activation (Sanjay & Hari Prasath, 2023). It is essential to understand that genetic modification and sequencing have made notable progress through these three different biomechanical processes. The most notable developments include embryo gene modification, drug development and discovery, gene therapy, especially in treating sickle cell diseases, development of recombinant genes and screening in healthcare. Designer babies Generational milestones Ideally, the development of designer babies has been a generational development that began in the late twentieth century. It is worth highlighting that this technological advancement has been improved and perfected over six generations. Initially, it started with the stimulation of the male and female reproductive genomes in 1978 through in vitro fertilization, commonly known as IVF (Ball, 2017). Medical researchers used glass as the culture medium to combine the male sperm with a female ovum for fertilization. The female ovum was usually obtained through ovulation stimulation (Joseph et al., 2022). Once the ovum was fertilized, the embryo was transferred to the uterus after six days for development. This process led to Louise Brown, the first child born through the IVF technological innovation. Notably, this was the first generation of genome editing and development of designer babies. According to statistical analysis and medical data, more than twelve million children globally have been born through this technique, which began over three decades ago. Nonetheless, it is essential to note that this genetic modification process was more of an assisted reproduction. Women who could not naturally get pregnant used this assisted reproduction method to give birth through a series of fertility treatments (Joseph et al., 2022). Technological innovations and clinical trials have helped evolve the IVF technique, making it more efficient and accessible to individuals who experience different pregnancy challenges. ICSI, fully known as intracytoplasmic sperm injection, is the second generation of gene edition and a type of IVF that was developed and improved in the 1980s. This reproduction-assisted technique focused on infertile males. The process involves injecting the male sperm into the ovum, and after fertilization, the embryo is implanted in the woman's uterus (Sanjay & Hari Prasath, 2023). It is worth highlighting that the first successful trial of this assisted reproduction was in 1992. Male individuals experiencing infertility adopted this technique to enhance reproduction. ICSI requires the female to undergo ovulation stimula...