Grand Valley Students Opinion and Knowledge of "Designer Babies"

Abstract

Advances in science indicate that parents will be able to select traits and gender of their progeny in the not too distant future. This conundrum of “designer babies†is confronting the world and fueling major debate in both the public and scientific community about its implications. Students from Grand Valley State University were surveyed to explore their understanding of the topic and opinion on designer babies. A majority of college students had heard of the term designer babies, but very few had heard or read about it from primary literature. Most had heard about it from popular sources, such as Internet and print media. A considerable number of science-based senior students seemed to think that designer babies could be “fabricated†naturally and not necessarily through only test tubes. Finally, the majority of surveyed college students believe that by designing our babies we are acting as God and not allowing nature to take its course.