Natalie+Sm’s+Essay+to+Professor+Silver

Dear Professor Silver,

As a species humans have come so far in such little time. Awhile ago getting cancer was a death sentence, this isn't always the case anymore; we've made leaps and bounds in cancer treatments and they've become much more successful and save more lives than ever before. This is proof of our determination as a species- if something tries to slow us down or destroy us, we are going to find a way to slow it down, destroy it, and in some cases - like small pox, polio and malaria - completely eradicate it in certain areas. This is a great quality we posses. It has taken us to the top of the food chain, it has improved the quality of living and it has saved many lives. However, now it frightens me. Scientists are studying things such as genes and stem cells that are, essentially, **what** and **who** we are.

I see the benefits of working with and manipulating genes and stem cells but I see the danger as well. Manipulating, adding and taking away certain genomic sequences and DNA in an embryo has the potential to save someone from having deadly diseases such as Tay Sachs, or lifelong conditions like epilepsy, alzheimer's, and diabetes. There's no denying that this would be an amazing accomplishment and would improve countless lives and, overall, would make the world a better and healthier place. All of that is true. My fear is that it won't stop here. My fear is that designer babies will be the next big thing, and before we know it Ken and Barbie dolls will be walking around.People with money, power and influence will find a way to change their children's genes to make sure that they're "perfect". This way their children would have the best opportunity possible, and what parent wouldn't want the best for their children. This could then make the class divisions even bigger