'Gattaca' clinic offering 'designer babies'

A US fertility clinic is to begin offering custom-designed babies to would-be parents.

Dr Jeff Steinberg, who operates clinics in Manhattan and Los Angeles, said that within six months he planned to let customers choose their baby's eye, hair, and even skin colour, according to the New York Daily News.

Dr Steinberg, who helped produce the first test-tube baby, acknowledged the technology was not 100% perfect and said best results were couples with Scandinavian heritage, whose gene pools were least diluted.

Critics have blasted the idea of designer babies, likening it to the pursuit of a master race.

The development mirrors the events of 1997 sci-fi film 'Gattaca' starring Ethan Hawke, Jude Law and Uma Thurman.