There were a couple of times as a child when I would have died without modern medicine. I am not alone. Most people used to die young and it was only the genetically tough and/or lucky that won the crapshoot and got to the point where they could reproduce. This has to have consequences. I am passing on a lousy immune system to my kids; someone else may be passing on a more serious genetic disease. Well, the human race is actually moving towards dealing with this for the first time, as has been seen by a recent debate on medical ethics in the UK.
Mitochondria, small energy powerhouses that in the beginning of life were separate organisms before some bacteria took them over and made them work for a living, have their own DNA that has nothing to do with our 26 chromosomes. Basically the idea is to use the mitochondrial DNA from a third parent for test tube babies whose parents have genetic conditions passed on via the mitochondrial DNA.
It is not quite yet the genetic engineering of human beings, but it is very close. This technique is not what is needed for dealing with the vast array of genetic ailments that plague modern society, but it certainly opens the door.
Many people seem to be outraged by the idea of it happening, but for me the question is not really whether it should happen, but rather how.
