Jul 05 2017 : The Times of India (Chennai)
We may stop using sex to procreate
Shehab Khan
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Humans Would Opt For `Designer Babies' In 30 Years, Says Expert
With in three decades peo ple will no longer be having sex to procreate, a professor from Stanford University has said. Hank Greely , the director of Stanford Law School's Center for Law and the Biosciences, believes the reproductive process will begin with parents choosing from a range of embryos created in a lab with their DNA.Although this can already take place, Greely believes it will become far cheaper to do so and couples will opt for this method to prevent diseases. The process involves taking a female skin sample to create stem cells, which is then used to create eggs.
These eggs are then fertilised with sperm cells, resulting in a selection of embryos.
Screening of the embryos would highlight any potential diseases and the Stanford professor believes the process will get to a point where parents can also potentially have the ability to choose eye or hair colour.
“I think one of the hardest things about this will be all the divorces that come about when she wants embryo number 15 and he wants embryo number 64,“ Greely said at Aspen Ideas Festive, a newspaper reported. “I think the decision-making will be a real challenge for people. How do you weigh a slightly higher chance of diabetes with slightly lower risk of schizophrenia against better musical ability and a much lower risk of colon cancer? Good luck,“ he added. Greely argues that if certain diseases can be avoided any expenditure on this method would be offset by reduced costs on potential treatments.
While Greely's hypothesis centres on sex for reproduction, a study in the US, published in `Archives of Sexual Behavior' this March, found the frequency of intercourse itself to have declined. According to the study , married people typically had sex 73 times a year in 1990. But by 2014 married couples were having sex just 55 times a year, trailing singles who had sex 59 times. THE INDEPENDENT & AGENCIES
These eggs are then fertilised with sperm cells, resulting in a selection of embryos.
Screening of the embryos would highlight any potential diseases and the Stanford professor believes the process will get to a point where parents can also potentially have the ability to choose eye or hair colour.
“I think one of the hardest things about this will be all the divorces that come about when she wants embryo number 15 and he wants embryo number 64,“ Greely said at Aspen Ideas Festive, a newspaper reported. “I think the decision-making will be a real challenge for people. How do you weigh a slightly higher chance of diabetes with slightly lower risk of schizophrenia against better musical ability and a much lower risk of colon cancer? Good luck,“ he added. Greely argues that if certain diseases can be avoided any expenditure on this method would be offset by reduced costs on potential treatments.
While Greely's hypothesis centres on sex for reproduction, a study in the US, published in `Archives of Sexual Behavior' this March, found the frequency of intercourse itself to have declined. According to the study , married people typically had sex 73 times a year in 1990. But by 2014 married couples were having sex just 55 times a year, trailing singles who had sex 59 times. THE INDEPENDENT & AGENCIES
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