3 ms·

Even if it's perfectly safe, it will deepen disparities.

ch4s3 4y ago
It may do that, but it may not. Many important traits involve huge numbers of genes that have small individual impacts and are mediated by epigenetics. The kinds of edits people are talking about now are single genes that control specific diseases. Even trying to make someone taller is probably out of reach for the near future. It may aslo become really cheap to do this in the future.
- GreedClarifies 4y ago
  It almost certainly will become really cheap to do this in the future. OTOH, selection of embryos, by it's nature, will always be expensive.
  - ted_bunny 4y ago
    Insulin is cheap, too.
    - ch4s3 4y ago
      This is never a very interesting comment. Older styles of insulin that no one wants to use are dirt cheap. The newer and preferred kind is still under patent, and one can quibble about that but it was very expensive to develop and Eli Lilly & Co. just announced a monthly out of pocket price cap of $35. Other countries have different systems that cap prices, so pharmas try to take profits in the US. It's not a very good system, but it has produced a lot of really impressive drugs in the last 50 years. We can do better of course, but trashing any medical advance with a quip about insulin is just childish and boring.
      - ted_bunny 4y ago
        Slow down, I'm only made of straw here. I'm saying that something being cheap to do/make isn't enough to ensure it's actually affordable equitably.
  - ch4s3 4y ago
    I wouldn't on embryo selection remaining expensive forever. The manual processes could eventually be automated if there were enough demand.
    - GreedClarifies 4y ago
      I agree that selecting an embryo will become inexpensive. However, the game will be to select the "best" embryo. This becomes a game of numbers where, on average, the quality of the embryo will be a function of the size the pool of embryos and this will be a function of how much the future parents spend.
distant_hat 4y ago
So what? There is no particular reason why disparities should be reduced.
iosono88 4y ago
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It may do that, but it may not. Many important traits involve huge numbers of genes that have small individual impacts and are mediated by epigenetics. The kinds of edits people are talking about now are single genes that control specific diseases. Even trying to make someone taller is probably out of reach for the near future. It may aslo become really cheap to do this in the future.

GreedClarifies 4y ago
It almost certainly will become really cheap to do this in the future. OTOH, selection of embryos, by it's nature, will always be expensive.
- ted_bunny 4y ago
  Insulin is cheap, too.
  - ch4s3 4y ago
    This is never a very interesting comment. Older styles of insulin that no one wants to use are dirt cheap. The newer and preferred kind is still under patent, and one can quibble about that but it was very expensive to develop and Eli Lilly & Co. just announced a monthly out of pocket price cap of $35. Other countries have different systems that cap prices, so pharmas try to take profits in the US. It's not a very good system, but it has produced a lot of really impressive drugs in the last 50 years. We can do better of course, but trashing any medical advance with a quip about insulin is just childish and boring.
    - ted_bunny 4y ago
      Slow down, I'm only made of straw here. I'm saying that something being cheap to do/make isn't enough to ensure it's actually affordable equitably.
- ch4s3 4y ago
  I wouldn't on embryo selection remaining expensive forever. The manual processes could eventually be automated if there were enough demand.
  - GreedClarifies 4y ago
    I agree that selecting an embryo will become inexpensive. However, the game will be to select the "best" embryo. This becomes a game of numbers where, on average, the quality of the embryo will be a function of the size the pool of embryos and this will be a function of how much the future parents spend.

distant_hat 4y ago

So what? There is no particular reason why disparities should be reduced.

iosono88 4y ago

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