Designer babies who are genetically engineered for desirable health, physical, and intellectual features are now within reach using existing technologies, a prospect that raises far-reaching societal and ethical questions not unlike those associated with advances in AI. One difference, though, is that the institutions needed to open an ethical path for gene editing -- by treating the technology as a public-health measure that should be available to everyone -- may be easier to conceive than in the case of AI.
The big breakthrough for gene editing is no longer so recent. The outlook changed fundamentally back in the 2000s, and especially the early 2010s, with the development of CRISPR-Cas9 technology, which enables high-precision genetic engineering. The technique uses a guide RNA to locate a specific sequence in the genome of a living organism, where the Cas9 enzyme makes a cut for disabling or editing a gene.
