Bioethicist calls for moratorium on 'designer babies' Genetically engineered humans are now a reality, expert tells City Club of Portland. A bioethicist-in-residence at the University of Oregon on Thursday, Feb. 18, said the time is now to institute a temporary halt on research into editing the human genome for future generations Françoise Baylis, the 2020-21 Wayne Morse Chair at the school's Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics said in a virtual discussion hosted by the City Club of Portland that the long-hypothetical discussion of crafting "designer babies" is now literally a reality. The question of whether genetically engineering human beings should continue without restrictions or regulation is too important, she said, to be left to the scientists doing the work.