under more pressure to look a certain way to fit in and conform to the body standard at the time (Mazur, 2010). One year, blue eyes may be the standard, then it may change to brown in a few years. This is a similar case with body shape. According to an investigation conducted in 2007, 90% of all woman aged 15-64 around the world would like to change at least one aspect of their physical appearance (Calogero, Boroughs and Thompson, 2007).This shows that technology that allows you to change your child’s appearance will potentially be used by parents, based on these social standards. As will be demonstrated in this essay, there are also consequences of using this technology that impact the child on which they are being used on. Robert Sparrow of Monash University argues in his 2018 paper on gene editing (Sparrow, 2019) of the obsolescence of ‘designer babies’. He contends that when a child is given enhancements at birth, they will “rapidly go out of date” and “Sooner or later, every modified child will find him or her- self to be ‘yesterday’s child”. With this, he is making the point that, just as fashion becomes obsolete as the years go by, genetic traits that are considered ‘attractive’ will soon lose their flair. When this does happen, the child will feel inadequate and will no longer have what society considers the ‘best trait’. Furthermore, different qualities may be considered more attractive in the modern world, so gene editing would further homogenise and universalise our understanding of beauty, attractiveness and what is considered ‘good’. One thing that makes the human race so interesting is the diversity of people. This homogenisation of the idea of beauty will eliminate this diversity.

In this essay, it may be useful to give an idea of the benefits of gene editing only being used in medical research and treatment in the lab. This is where medical treatments using gene editing should be considered. Children who suffer from hereditary diseases cannot live a normal life. The use of CRISPR/ CAS9 for medical treatment, however, be used to genetically rectify these issues before the baby is even born. The embryo of the child formed from the parents can be biologically altered to remove the genetic mutation that causes the disease (Gene Therapy- Mayo Clinic, n.d). In medicine research, researchers’ best interests are to do with treatments for illnesses, so the power that is gene editing will be used to benefit all of humanity, even if it is kept behind laboratory walls. Furthermore, using it for medical research has a lot less problems associated with it, and less societal consequences. There is, although, an important factor to consider here; me