Would you believe me if I told you they are making Genetically Modified  Babies (GMBs)?

Well believe it! This is not some science fiction movie, or some basis for a screen play this is actual breaking news that seemed to go relatively unnoticed. I am surprised that this news did not get a lot more attention, but I came across this news blurb last week in the BBC about the World's first GMBs being born last week. I did not understand why this was not the hottest topic in the stratosphere. Back in 1996 when they cloned Dolly the sheep it was the hottest topic on any news station, however these genetically modified babies have flown relatively under the weather.

My initial reaction to this news article was that this scientific discovery must have occurred in some 3rd-world country where the verification of this scientific achievement remains questionable. In actuality this feat was achieved at the Institute for Reproductive Medicine and Science of St. Barnabas in New Jersey (was this where Snooki's baby was born?)

I don't mean to alarm anyone because these were not some half man- half pig hybrid babies or babies given super powers to rival Spiderman . Simply put, embryos were taken from women who were having trouble conceiving and were injected with genes from a donor to aid in the ability of the women to conceive a child and EUREKA it was a success!!!  Genetic fingerprint test on two one-year old children confirm that the babies have DNA from three adults, two women and one man. Surprisingly enough over 30 babies have been born from this process.

However, these types of experiments are what science has been dreading for a long time that has resulted in an intense debate on the next stage of human evolution. At what point does it end? Will this type of research result in couples picking the gender of their baby? Or how about the height, hair color, eye color? When did we start taking mother nature's job? It also raises the question, will we naturally select ourselves into extinction?

One of the ways nature assures balance and the evolution of species is their ability to adapt to their environment. Let's fast forward 100 years from now (hypothetically speaking of course) into a world where GMBs are the norm (the premise of the movie Gattaca) and we have unwittingly naturally selected our immune defense against a traditionally harmless pathogen or we have not prepared our bodies for monumental climate changes. Will we be able to reverse this process?

We (human beings) are treading into uncharted areas of science & evolution quite frankly into the realm of God. Therefore, I believe this topic needs to be discussed and addressed so that we can all have a say in the next evolution of the human race.

What do you think? Are you ready to genetically engineer your baby?