The Concept

Designer Baby
noun

1. a baby whose genetic make-up has been selected in order to eradicate a particular defect, or to ensure that a particular gene is present.

Welcome to my Final Major Project blog, here is a small rundown of my concept and some of the ideas I aim to look at throughout the next two months. 

“Designer Babies” looks into the modification of DNA, genetically choosing what a child will be like. Within this concept I will address a variety of the ethical problems that are created by DB’s but also the environmental and social factors that could determine how a child looks.

There are so many questions I hope to answer, or at least attempt to answer within my concept; What is the ‘perfect child? How far will people go for perfection? Or even, how little will they go? The provocative question of what would you want your child to be like, and if you had the chance, would you even want to? Babies are terminated all over the world due to genetic “faults” like being female, or disabled. Is termination the only other option for people? The irony, that the population would die out without women yet female babies are undesired.

I hope to address my Jewish history within this project, in particular; WW2 and  the ‘Aryan’ child, Hitler’s idea of perfect. Do genetics make someone a more worthy candidate in the game of life? Torturing oneself to look like ‘perfect’ with extreme body modifications. I will include both cultural and social modifications, ranging from foot binding to plastic surgery to self harm. Environmental modifications will be researched, such as the bomb disasters at Chernobyl. Meaning babies were born with severe disfigurements, siamese twins, extra or missing body parts, not necessarily selected genes but genetically modified all the same.

As a contrasting parallel idea, I hope to research many artists in detail that have address similar themes like the idea of perfection or disfigurement.