Whom do you wish?

Whom do you wish? Possibilities and Prospects of Gender Programming

Until very recently, future parents could only guess what gender their future child would be. Historically, different cultures and peoples have come up with different ways to predict the gender of a child, and often these methods were based on beliefs and superstitions. However, with the development of science and technology, new opportunities have emerged for programming the gender of the baby.

About twenty years ago, science seriously took up the issue of programming the sex of a child. And today, on the threshold of the third millennium, doctors can ask future parents the question: “Who do you want - a boy or a girl?” and, using the latest technologies, provide a certain guarantee of the successful implementation of their wishes.

The basic idea is to separate sperm, which are the male reproductive cells, into those that carry the X chromosome (girl) and the Y chromosome (boy). Typically, a healthy man produces sperm with X and Y chromosomes in approximately equal quantities. To conceive a child of a given gender, it is necessary to introduce a sperm with the desired chromosome into the egg.

However, difficulty arises in determining the required sperm. It turns out that X sperm contain slightly more DNA (only 2.8%) than Y sperm. This slight difference can be used to separate sperm of different sexes.

One of the methods for separating spermatozoa based on quantitative differences in DNA is the microsorting method (MicroSort). The sperm is first filtered to remove damaged and immobile sperm. Then, a special fluorescent dye stains the DNA of the cells. Girls' sperm glow more intensely than boys' sperm, which allows them to be separated. The sperm sample is placed into a laser cytometer, which lines up the sperm in a column and illuminates them with a laser. Based on the intensity of the glow, the cytometer separates the sperm: boys to the right, girls to the left.

The result is two sperm samples, one of which contains 85% girl sperm and the other 65% boy sperm. Obviously, these figures are not final, since technology and research methods are constantly being improved. In the near future, perhaps, the gynecologist’s question “Whom do you want?” will become normal. This could lead to significant changes in society and influence the fight against inherited sexually transmitted diseases such as hemophilia, which often affects men and is transmitted through the female line.

However, it is important to note that in some cultures and religious communities the birth of a girl is still viewed negatively. For example, in some Islamic countries, the birth of a girl may be considered a curse for the family. This could create real problems and cause gender inequality in such societies, especially if gender programming technologies become widely available.

Thus, the question “Whom do you desire?” opens up new opportunities for parents who seek to control the gender of their unborn child. However, it is necessary to carefully consider these technologies and their potential consequences for society as a whole. It is important to ensure that such methods are used ethically and that cultural, religious and social aspects are taken into account to avoid negative consequences and gender inequalities.