Eugenics In The 21st Century
Genetics expert Naissan Hussainzada on the future of genetic engineering.
Today, eugenics may seem a distant memory; but new issues arise as technology advances and genetic engineering (and discrimination) becomes a real possibility. As we move toward a future in which human genetic modification is an everyday reality, we must remember the lessons the American eugenics movement has taught us.
Designer Babies"With genetic engineering, we will be able to increase the complexity of our DNA, and improve the human race. But it will be a slow process, because one will have to wait about 18 years to see the effect of changes to the genetic code." -Stephen Hawking "Would it really be so bad, if we added genes for height to small people, or for hair to the bald, or good eyesight to the myopic?…Just where we get off the slippery slope is therefore a matter for society to choose…we have plenty of time to debate the issues and resolve them." -Sir Walter Bodmer, former president of the Human Genome Organization "I would predict that by next year, we will have determined sex with 100 percent certainty on a baby, and we will have determined eye color with about an 80 percent accuracy rate," -fertility specialist Dr. Jeff Steinberg, director of Fertility Institute. |
ART Discrimination"Today a person can become a parent with the aid of technology in ways that weren't possible 100 or even 40 years ago. These technologies are know as assisted reproductive technologies (ART) and they include medical techniques such as in vitro fertilization (IVF) and others. I worry that access to these technologies may be limited based on society's view of the personal characteristics of some individuals wanting to be parents. For example, research shows that people who are poor or in racial and ethnic minority populations have less access to ART than people who are wealthy and nonminority. Based on this research, I think a good argument can be made that eugenics is reemerging today in the realm of access to ART."
-Judith Daar, interviewed through email on the subject of discrimination in access to assisted reproductive technology “As the country debates the ethics of fertility treatment and worries about rogue fertility providers, it is critical to also raise voices in defense of those who face both natural and socially constructed barriers to parenting.” - Kimberly Mutcherson, professor at Rutgers Law |
Involuntary Sterilization Today
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"Eugenics is in danger of recurring because our society has still not embraced the fundamental human right that each person should control their own right to have children and that no person or government should take that away."
-Nilmini Rubin, interviewed through email
-Nilmini Rubin, interviewed through email