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Germ-line editing is a way to genetically modify human embryos

CRISPR, which stands for "Clustered Regularly Interspaced
Short Palindromic Repeats" is a germ-line editing tool that was
discovered by Francisco Mojica in 1993 and started being used
in 2013 for genetic modification of human embryos
Using CRISPR, a nuclease is put into the cell to cut DNA at a
specific place, remove an unwanted gene and replace it with
synthetic sequence, allowing scientists to edit out faulty gene
mutations from an embryo's DNA
Parents might opt to use CRISPR because a certain disease-
causing mutation in their embryo's DNA has been detected and
they don't want their child to be born with it

CRISPR has already been experimented on rats and monkeys

Genetic modification of humans does not receive federal funding
in the United States, but there are no laws against it
In 2015, scientists in China were the first to edit a human
embryo using CRISPR
The UK, earlier this year, became the second to get the okay to
research gene editing of human embryos using CRISPR

As of right now, scientists can only use genetic modification to

fix mutations that cause diseases and to change the sex and eye
color of a child
It is likely that at some point in the future people will be able to
choose more of their child's traits
Scientists predict that parents will soon be able to use germ-line
editing to design their child's looks, athleticism, and intelligence
Critics fear that this could lead to so-called "designer babies"

Benefits:
Possible to edit out genes that cause Down syndrome, spinal
muscular atrophy, cystic fibrosis, rare blood disorders, etc.
We could modify the genes that lower the risk of contracting
HIV
We could in turn save more lives by preventing causes of
premature death
Risks:
The health risks aren't yet fully know since CRISPR technology
hasn't been used much so far on actual human embryos
However, some scientists say that should it go wrong, it may
result in the baby to experience premature aging, reproductive
disorders, immune imbalance, gastrointestinal problems, organ
damage, or cancer
 The potential of CRISPR resulting in designer babies would
have a huge (mostly negative) impact on society
If designer babies were to become commonplace it would be
among the rich people who could afford the high costs of editing
their embryo's DNA
This would promote societal inequity by giving more potential
opportunities to the upper class for a healthier life and higher IQ,
in turn fueling the upper class's success and widening the gap
between the rich and the poor
If "perfect babies" were to be achieved this would create an
invisible barrier between designer babies and non-genetically-
modified ones
Designer kids would be very different from natural ones and
might be seen as superior
Impacts on society similar to in movie "Gattaca" where the upper
class is made up of the people with the best genes and they can
get the most important jobs

A designer child may not turn out how the parents expected it to
and they might be disappointed and reject to child
Parents would put more pressure on kids to be perfect and live
up to their expectations of intelligence, looks or athleticism
Genetically modified, healthy babies could be made solely for
the purpose of donating organs and blood to save their non-
modified sibling's life
Parents with one designer baby and one natural baby might show
favoritism to their "perfect" child and neglect the other

Cloning is to produce genetically identical copies of a single

organism
While they have the same DNA, the two organisms don't always
look identical
The cloning of animals has been around for nearly half a century

There are 3 types of cloning: gene cloning, reproductive cloning

and therapeutic cloning
Animals are cloned using reproductive cloning, in which a
somatic cell is taken from the animal that is being cloned and
that cell is transferred into an egg
The egg is implanted into the womb of a female animal after it
has developed into an embryo
This type of cloning can cause the animal to experience
premature aging and organ defects
 In 1979, researchers produced the first genetically identical mice
In 1996 Scottish researchers cloned the first mammal from the
cell of an adult animal. This animal was a sheep and its clone, is
known as Dolly the sheep
Since then, we've managed to clone cats, deer, dogs, horses,
mules, ox, rabbits, rats, and monkeys
We have the potential now to clone endangered species and
could eventually resurrect extinct species like the woolly
mammoth (whose DNA has been discovered from some of its
frozen remains)
Could potentially use what we know of the wooly mammoth's
genome to edit an elephant's DNA into a mammoth's

The potential of bringing back extinct species as well as cloning

currently endangered species might have a negative impact on
people's concern for the environment
Resurrecting these animals might give people the false idea that
they can undo any environmental destruction that they have
caused; this could mean that people would have even less
concern for the environment
Cloning of extinct or soon to be extinct species interferes with
natural selection and might cause imbalance in an ecosystem if
the clones were to be released into the wild

Mammals like sheep can be genetically modified make milk that

has a human protein needed for blood clotting
The protein could eventually be separated from the milk and
given to humans whose blood does not clot properly in order to
make it clot
Cloned animals can also be used to test new drugs on-- since the
clones are all genetically identical and their responses to the
drugs should be the same