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Comment by bufferoverflow | Hacker News Reader

You're confusing a work of one scientist and the whole field. Gene edited babies are inevitable, as soon as we start seeing massive benefits (lack of genetic disease, increases IQ, increased speed, increased muscle mass, improved cardiovascular and immune systems).

Parents already spend ridiculous money for the tiniest benefits for their kids. Genetic editing will be huge.

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I saw the parent's comment more countering the grandparent's assertion that He Jiankui will be lauded. He will not.

He may go down in history, but he will appear in the ethics chapter alongside Dr. Rascher and will not be lauded.

Biology is complicated and there are always unintended consequences even with simple drugs or other procedures. you've listed outcomes, but not how to get there. do we increase muscle mass by overexposing growth hormone? in which exact cells and how do we time it? Do we increase IQ by increasing Nerve growth factor or some synaptic channels? What if the wrong cells are expressing them at the wrong time? We barely understand what many of these factors do on a cell to cell level. chasing the things you list WILL come with toxicities and/or a failure rates. Perhaps in 'patients' whom we will have to look in the eyes and explain why we did what we did. Maybe we will get where you suggest but it won't be a straight road there.

You're asking specifics of how it will be done, and we don't know it yet. It will be done, because we do know these variations do exist.

I don't see how a targeted genetic alteration is any worse than the millions of random ones that you get though regular fertilization.

As for looking in the eyes, well, progress always has victims. If you don't want to do it, then don't do it. Some other parents will.

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