Designer babies: an ethical horror waiting to happen?

Nearly 40 years since the first 'test-tube baby', how close are we to editing out all of our genetic imperfections - and should we even try to do so?

Comfortably seated in the fertility clinic with Vivaldi playing softly in the background, you and your partner are brought coffee and a folder. Inside the folder is an embryo menu. Each embryo has a description, something like this:

Embryo 78 - male
" No serious early onset diseases, but a carrier for phenylketonuria (a metabolic malfunction that can cause behavioural and mental disorders. Carriers just have one copy of the gene, so don't get the condition themselves).
" Higher than average risk of type 2 diabetes and colon cancer.
" Lower than average risk of asthma and autism.
" Dark eyes, light brown hair, male pattern baldness.
" 40% chance of coming in the top half in SAT tests.