Rhetorical Analysis: A Cautious Step Into the Future
In his artfully crafted TedTalk “The Ethical Dilemma of Designer Babies”, author and scientist Paul Knoepfler advises his audience to use exercise caution before falling under the spell of tempting technological advances. Leading with a powerful, not too far off vision of the future in which genetically modified humans are commonplace; Knoepfler pulls on the audience's heartstrings, using an adorable hypothetical daughter he’s named Marianne. She serves as a window into the dangers of getting carried away genetic modification.
Not only could genetic modification effect the population as a whole, but Knoepfler stresses that “there would be risks to individuals as well. So if we forget about enhancing people and we just try to make them healthier using genetic modification, this technology is so new and so powerful, that by accident we could make them sicker. That easily could happen. And there's another risk, and that is that all of the legitimate, important genetic modification research going on just in the lab — again, no interest in designer babies — a few people going the designer baby route, things go badly, that entire field could be damaged.” In this future not only do the…show more content… As a Genetic researcher who uses CRISPR in his lab, he has a unique perspective on the subject and sees CRISPR in action every day. Verifying his familiarity with the technology and reassuring the audience of his credibility, Knoepfler states that his cautious views in the field of genetically modified or ‘designer’ babies aren’t popular ones. He paints a picture of a scientific frontier in the field of genetic engineering, CRISPR “has taken science by storm. It's evolving so fast, and it's so freaking exciting to scientists,” but instead of joining the designer baby bandwagon, Knoepfler waves his hands cautioning others to
