The Eugenics of Personal Choice

Dueling dictionaries is about to begin.Eugenics, defined as seeking improvement in the genetic quality (defined as ?) of the human race, can be a laudable goal. The problem comes in how these improvements are made. The history of eugenics is fraught with forced sterilization, restricted reproduction laws and murder of undesirable phenotypes.Going Godwin can not be helped. Eugenics, in the popular vernacular, is synonymous with Nazi.Gene selection/insertion/replacement in a fetus to improve the resultant expressed phenotype may be eugenics by classical definition but has nothing whatever to do with the pop culture boogieman of violating living peoples human rights.Using the scare word "eugenics" as the article does is an intentional hype.Genome alteration is going to happen and mistakes will occur. Unintended consequences can, and probably will, produce the most gross horror stories if the technology is not monitored and regulated closely. But this has nothing to do with the popular conceptions of abusive eugenics and the forced comparison the article makes is bullshit.

Misunderstanding. I do not dismiss the issues involved. I dismiss as bullshit the media's fear mongering of the issue.I agree with some of what you say. This designer DNA stuff can get well out of hand. As the article addresses, personal choice in designer genomes for our babies could well lead to a plethora of the tall, handsome, blue-eyed, muscle-man brainiacs of the Aryan ideal. And you just know that some rock star or movie star is going to have a baby with purple hair, zebra skin and a bony spike sticking through its little baby head.What do we do to control this? What I see in the article is the fear mongered suggestion that we kill the research in total.I don't know how the future society can/will control the all-too-human penchant to give every advantage to our babies. But the promise of further research in arresting disease, correcting genome malfunction, improving health, longevity, intellect, happiness, whatever good things we can do to make life warm and fuzzy for all time, seems, imho, well worth walking the minefield ... on my belly ... with a detector ... and a map.If we stop now we only delay the good stuff. We can still progress while we ponder the limits we want to enforce, by whom, when and how. Some of these consequences we will need to experience before we even know they are there. Scary and dangerous, yes, but until we progress further we will not know what we can and cannot, should and should not do.Ethics conferences, philosophical essays, a consensus gentium (minus the Republicans and the Vatican) will need to guide us.

If there were nothing more than individualism and personal choice operating here then I cannot disagree. But, I think even at this point most of those involved understand that this is the hole we need to avoid falling into. Just how has yet to be determined and more importantly, by who and how do those determinations get made.And just to muddy the waters against my own arguments, how do you deal with the potential of the renegade? Bill Joy's "gray goo" scenario. A genetically stratified society resistant to social change is tame by comparison. Edited by AZPaul3, : No reason given.

Well, that's good news, thank you. We were a bit concerned you'd go over to the dark side on us there, Stile. Now, what are your thoughts on designer hemorrhagic viruses?

Clarify, please.Do you not think the needed consensus will include political, corporate and individual interests? When it comes time to build a baby who would/should decide? Are you saying parents' choice would/should be the only consideration? Might we see law (representing both social and corporate interests) determining the base requirements of the phenotype with a spread of traits available for the parents' choice? Maybe we go total Brave New World and decant babies in government factories then put them up on the market for adoption?In your view, where should these concerns be centered? Any examples on who should have what levels of control?