How would you feel if someone told you that they had the key to unlocking a world without diseases? There is a catch though - there is a high chance that this new world could be filled with enhanced racism, higher standards of beauty and greater economic inequality.

Scientists in the UK have been given the thumbs up to edit the genes of human embryos through a process called “genome editing”, which is a type of genetic engineering in which DNA is inserted, deleted or replaced in the genome of an organism using engineered nucleases, or “molecular scissors” such as “CRSPIR”.

This breakthrough could lead to the cure of infinite diseases detected in the cells of embryos, such as various types of cancer. Once the faulty DNA is removed from the cell, the risk of having the disease would drastically decrease for that embryo and its future offspring and their generations to come.

However, researchers in China discovered that on injecting CRSPIR into the DNA of an embryo to remove a disease-infected gene, they found that it affected other parts of the DNA that were perfectly normal.

Once the DNA has been affected, any potential effects can be passed on from one generation to another. Interfering with our genetic make-up to completely remove certain genes without absolute knowledge of the long term effects should not be permissible because of the unpredictable consequences that do not appear until later in life.

Genetically altering the genes of embryos can be used for reasons other than to cure diseases. Parents would be given the freedom to design their baby to their liking by purposely changing the facial make-up of their child before he or she is born.

“Designer babies” are the embryos that are altered to change the physical attributes of the child such as changing the eyes, hair and skin in order to fit their parents’ own definition of a beautiful child. The children themselves have no consent in the matter and could grow up not accepting the way they look. Researchers also pointed out that designing babies could mean changing their levels of intelligence and intellect.

This could result in a corrupt society where the standard of beauty and intelligence around the world would change. There could be a widened gap between social classes that could occur and only the people that can afford this operation would prosper.

In my opinion, this procedure would only be ethical to use after copious amounts of research to prove that it is a safe procedure that prevents diseases and makes future populations healthier without risky long term effects. However, what would be its use if only a fraction of the entire world’s population could afford it?

The writer is a media student with the Sharjah Higher College of Technology.

The International Government Communication Forum (IGCF), held in Sharjah, is an annual forum that shares global best practices in fields of government communication and aims to build a platform for better communication between governments and their citizens. This column is a collaborative effort with Gulf News featuring work by UAE-based students as part of that initiative.