Genetic Engineering is a redirect for LEGO Genetics currently. Genetically Modified Human is a trope you can take to YKTTW.
Fight smart, not fair.I keep getting tripped up by "gattaca" as a mnemonic for DNA sequences and thinking the trope is about custom tailored babies, not artificial wombs and the like. By that definition, the Humanx Commonwealth entry I added is not technically correct, because while Flinx and his brethren were indeed artifically created; they were implanted in human host mothers for gestation.
Unless that counts and I am doubly misreading the article.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"So, shimaspawn's interpretation of the trope was incorrect, and we can Move Along, Nothing to See Here?
Hmm, got a different problem, though. The trope description seems to be focusing on artificial reproduction as a setting element rather than just something that happens. The example I cited would not match in that 99.9% of babies in the Commonwealth are done the normal way; it's just a rogue group of geneticists that try to make supermen in a test tube.
I think the description needs expansion.
edited 15th Nov '10 9:32:59 AM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"Yeah, the description is focusing on the artificial gestation element. Should we split the two? Should we expand the definition? That's my issue. I think artificial gestation is a trope of it's own. Should we split it off maybe and leave Gattaca Babies for babies who are just genetically modified? There'd be overlap yes, but there would be characters who only fall into one or the other as well.
Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. DickTrope 1: Genetically manipulating or synthesizing the preborn. Trope 2: Gestating babies somewhere other than in a female uterus.
Sounds distinct to me.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"Why don't we use Gattaca Babies for trope 1. And Uterine Replicator for trope 2. We just need a pair of clear definitions and to split the examples then.
Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. DickSounds great to me.
Edit: And Genetic Engineering needs to be a Super-Trope.
edited 15th Nov '10 12:13:00 PM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"Of Gattaca Babies? Agreed.
edited 15th Nov '10 12:17:58 PM by shimaspawn
Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. DickHow are these for proposed explanations?
Trope 1
Gattaca Babies are what occurs when you create, or genetically engineer embryos and then implant them either back into their mothers or into a Uterine Replicator.
The resulting child is often seen either as more perfect and wonderful than normal people, or as freaks and monsters who should have never existed and now must be destroyed. This is often a source of Stock Superpowers.
Trope 2
Sometimes it's done to combat problems with sterility. Sometimes it's done as a means of population control. Sometimes it's done as a way to protect the mother from Death by Childbirth. Sometimes it's done to let two men reproduce together without invoking Mister Seahorse.
This is often staple of Dystopian futures, especially those in which sex is outlawed.
If the child is also genetically engineered see Gattaca Babies.
edited 15th Nov '10 12:44:19 PM by shimaspawn
Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. DickNo, with Gattaca Babies, I would take about wanting to perfect humanity but, ooh, that nature beating out that nuture, so let's genetically manipulate babies so we give them all the right start.
Pretty good. Edit Trope 1 to this:
The resulting child is often seen either as more perfect and wonderful than normal people, or as a freak/monster who should have never existed and must now be destroyed — and sometimes both at the same time by different groups of people. This is often a source of Stock Superpowers. It's also frequently the purview of the Evilutionary Biologist, who believes that humanity can be "improved" if they would only allow him to tinker with nature a bit. What Could Possibly Go Wrong??
It is not uncommon to have settings, especially in Science Fiction of the Dystopian variety, in which most or all children are produced via genetic engineering/cloning. In almost all of these settings, there will be a group of people who want to make babies the "natural" way. Whether they're right depends on which side of Science Is Bad the Aesop of the work falls on.
edited 15th Nov '10 1:13:22 PM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"I added a line to get Some Sort Of Troper's argument in there. If these are good then I'll stick them up on the page and see about starting the split.
The resulting child is often seen either as more perfect and wonderful than normal people, or as a freak/monster who should have never existed and must now be destroyed — and sometimes both at the same time by different groups of people. This is often a source of Stock Superpowers. It's also frequently the purview of the Evilutionary Biologist, who believes that humanity can be "improved" if they would only allow him to tinker with nature a bit. What Could Possibly Go Wrong??
It is not uncommon to have settings, especially in Science Fiction of the Dystopian variety, in which most or all children are produced via genetic engineering/cloning. This is often done in an effort to "perfect" humanity in a belief that nature is stronger than nurture. In almost all of these settings, there will be a group of people who want to make babies the "natural" way. Whether they're right depends on which side of Science Is Bad the Aesop of the work falls on.
edited 15th Nov '10 1:24:45 PM by shimaspawn
Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. DickSorry, I re-edited my post a bit to get the wording right.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"I think so. You might want to wait for a few more folks to chime in on it.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"Well, we seem to have a distinct lack of people interested, so go ahead and whack away.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

Gattaca Babies is a trope about artificial reproduction according to it's write up but a large number of the examples are just anyone who is genetically engineered regardless of if they're actually examples of artificial reproduction or not. Do we have a separate trope for Genetic Engineering? And if not should we split the trope? There is Genetic Engineering Is the New Nuke, but that's only for superpowers.
Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. Dick