EPQ

To what extent should the production of designer babies be legalised in the UK?

Candidate number-5223 Centre number-32115

Index

Using resources

Why I choose this topic

what went well

Aims and objectives

drawbacks

Planning

changes made

Methodolgy

what I learnt

Main findings

Improvements I would make

Conclusion

Advise

Why I choose this topic:

There has been a rise in discussions in regards to designer babies since the production of Crisp-Cas9 since its discovery in 2012.

I believed this topic would support me in the future in order to secure a place in a medicine related degree.

When studying DNA and the genome at GCSE's I found a genuine interest in the topic.

Aims and objectives

Aims:

Objectives:

1. To introduce and explain what deisgner babies are and explain the legality of gene editing2. To evaluate the production of designer babies in saviour siblings and explain the legality of PGD 3. To evaluate the ethical aspects of designer babies 4. To evaluate the social aspects of dedigner babies 5. To conclude as to what extent the production of deigner babies should be legalised.

My aim was to create a report evaluating the medical, social and ethical problems in regards to designer babies. Then finally coming to a conclusion as to what extent the production of designer babies should be legalised in the UK.

My original plan

Planning:

There are many things wrong with this original plan such as: >It is very vague >The title could be more focused >There can be potential overlap in the pros and cons

My second plan

Planning:

Changes to my plan: >It is more detailed >The focus of my objectives have changed. Problems with this plan: >too many factors to cover in objective 3 >Objective 4 could be mentioned in social >title could be more focused

Planning:

Changes to my plan: >It is more detailed >The title is more focused. These changes to my plan allowed me to have more clarity in structuring my report. This allowed me to be cohesive in my writing.

Methodology:

Once I had chosen the topic of designer babies I began to research and gathered around 20-30 sources. From this I felt more confident in starting to write my EPQ. During my process I did use my activity log to track my progress. However, I did fall behind on filling it out many times.

Methodology:

In order to stay on track, I implented the use of my project management calendar and the deadlines set by my supervisor and myself. I regularly added to my project management calendar with a brief overview of the week. I also added if and when I hit the deadlines set by my supervisor. This is how I managed staying on track as it allowed me to self-refect on how much I had completed and gave me a clear idea of my next steps.

Methodology:

My production log:

I also implemented the use of my production log to track my progress. I would log advice given by my supervisor after they had reviewed my report at certain points. I would thereafter log any changes I planned to make. I set some mini deadlines for myself in my production log aswell allowing me to have a clear vission of how I was going to move forward.

Main findings:

legality: I found that the legality of the production of designer babies via gene editing is illegal in the UK.However, the production of designer babies via Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis is legal on a case by case basis for 'fatal hereditary disease'.Saviour siblings: The production of a designer baby to use its stem cells for transplantation for a sibling could be morally and socially acceptable. This is because it is essentially saving a life by increasing life expectancy of the sibling.However, could have mental toll on the designer baby(the donor) themselves and may not be in their best interest for larger transplants. Ethics: The main ethical argument in regards to designer babies would be the safety of gene editing as it is incredibly unsafe and could cause genetic mutation which would be detrimental to future generations as this would be irreversible. Social: The main social argument I found was that the production of designer babies could cause socioeconomic-inequality. If the production of designer babies for non-medical cases became normalised this could also be detrimental to future generations, as it would create an immense divide between the rich and poor.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, there are many medical, social and ethical aspects regarding designer babies. The production of designer babies should stay legalised for fatal hereditary cases via PGD, as it is saving a life so can be morally acceptable. Gene editing to produce a designer baby should remain illegal as it's unsafe. They should stay legalised in life-threatening medical cases as the threat of socio-economic inequality is low as only a minority of embryos will go through PGD. They should stay legalised in the production of a Saviour sibling for smaller transplants as it aids in healing a disease and is in the best interest of the designer baby. However, in all aspects the production of designer babies should be heavily regulated as if it is not then history could repeat itself, there could be a decrease in diversity and it could have alot of physiological problems that pertain to the parents and the designer baby themselves.

Resources:

I have used a variety of different sources in my report such as journal articles,books, NHS websites, government websites, and reports.

Reliability

To ensure the reliability of my information majority of my sources used are journal articles.This enabled me to write an accurate report. I acquired these through reliable sites such as : >JSTOR >PubMed >GoogleScholar. The websites that I used were mainly from the NHS or government websites. To ensure the reliabilty of other sources I implemented the use of the RAVEN technique this can be seen in my resource log.

What went well:

>I regularly proofread my work and had it read my by peers- so that I could make any changes throughout the duration of my report so I could not have to make any changes toward the due date of submitting everything. >Due to the nature of my EPQ I found a variety of different reliable sources that I could use for effective evaluation in my report. >The way in which I analysed (always referring back to the title) made it easier for me to come to a conclusion as to what extent the production of designer babies should be legalised in the UK at the end of my report.

Drawbacks:

>My biggest struggle was sticking to the deadlines set my supervisor I strugged with this largely at the beginning of my EPQ . This is because at the beginning I hadn't taken into account the amount of work I would have to complete for my other a-level subjects and time I needed to set aside for other studies.I eventually became better at manging my time by setting mini deadlines for myself to lessen pressure. >Another problem I faced was that there were many social and ethical aspects regarding designer babies I could not write about every single factor without exceeding the word count by an immense amount. To solve this I had to find the biggest factors, I determined this by looking at various journals and seeing which factors were mentioned the most. >Another struggle I faced was keeping up with my activity log. Many weeks I would forget to make an entry and this meant that I would have to go back and fill it out which was a struggle as it was hard to remember exactly what I did. This also set me back a bit.

Skills developed:

>The EPQ report made me develop the skill of writing in a more formal manner. >My EPQ report also required me to master the skill of evaluation. >Use of my production log ensured that I developed the skill of being self-reflective and better at problem solving.

This is because I had to adhere to the many changes I made during the EPQ process. I believe all these skills could help me in future jobs .

Changes:

>The biggest change I made was changing my title from 'Should designer babies be legalised' to 'What extent should the production of designer babies be legalised in the UK?'. I changed it to 'the UK' so that my title would be more focused.I also changed it to 'what extent' as the production of designer babies is legalised in the UK to a certain extent. This is my biggest change as I had to go back and reword my evaluation setting a bit behind.>I also decided to include mini conclusions at the end of each objective as I had seen this from example EPQ's and was advised to do so by my supervisor. This helped with the structure of writing my EPQ and also aided me in coming to a clear conclusion at the end of my report. >Another change I made was to get rid of an objective which would have evaluated the financial aspects of designer babies because of the limited word count, and the inability to evaluate properly because of this.

Improvements I would make:

>I would collect primary data such as interviewing a healthcare professional or conducting a survey as I believe this would have helped me in my report analysis. Although I did try to contact a healthcare professional I was unsuccessful and could have tried to contact more. >I would have made a study timetable at the very beginning and ensured I stuck to it so I wouldn't have fallen behind in hitting deadlines set by my supervisor. Although I did set time aside on Tuesday afternoons for researching my topic, I would also set specific time aside for the completion of my report and logs. I would have done this via the use of a gantt chart. >I would have also finished most of my report before the Christmas holidays to allow me time to revise for the exam period that began towards the end of January without setting me behind in EPQ. This would have also alleviated a lot of the pressure that I put on myself towards the end of EPQ submission.

Advice to future EPQ students:

I advise future EPQ students : > to choose a topic they are genuinely interested in -so that they don't lose interest during the process of writing their report >to choose a topic that is focused and well researched- as if it isn't focused it can limit their grade.It should be well-researched so that they don't find difficuilty in finding relevant sources. >to read and analyse the mark scheme- as it essentially tell them the exact way in which they can attain the marks they want to attain. >to read example EPQ's of their intended target grade if available- so that they have an idea on how to structure their report