Defective genes may be a blessing

Imagine a world in which we “could reduce, and eventually eliminate, the birth of babies with severe genetic diseases”. Johnjoe McFadden (“There’s nothing wrong with correcting God’s mistakes”, February 5) claims this is possible in the foreseeable future and that the view that we are dangerously “playing God” will slow down this advancement

In the period leading up to and during the two world wars, science and technology made enormous advances, including in the field of medicine and in splitting the atom, which led to the atomic bomb.

Humanity began placing its faith in science and technology rather than God. As Friedrich Nietszche had claimed: “God is dead.” He was not suggesting that there was no God, but that humanity behaved as if there wasn’t one.

Through the ages, societies throughout the world and of different faiths have examined the question of why there is suffering.

Let us return to the idea of a world that has eliminated genetic diseases. This would theoretically eliminate much suffering — for example, for families with children who have a disease that shortens their lives or causes severe disability.

Bringing up a child with Down’s syndrome is very challenging and requires much more time, patience and possibly money than it would to bring up a child who does not suffer from such a syndrome.

I have met a number of families who have children with Down’s syndrome and have in each case been touched by how the members of these families have developed wonderful qualities and coped financially, touching those around them.

This leads me to ask if those children’s genetics are really God’s mistakes. We should worry about the “slippery slope to designer babies” now, just as we should have worried about the effects of the atom bomb before dropping one.