“I consider myself pro-technology, even pro-robot. But I draw a line at eugenics. I don’t use that term as a slander — eugenics is exactly the right term for what Stossel and Brennan advocate.” - Acton
“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” (Proverbs 27:17)
Are children their parents’ property?
Since 2005
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Discussion
NewSomehow...
….the 13th Amendment comes to mind. ;^) Seriously, as any good software engineer knows, you mess with one part of the code, you tend to have some unforeseen consequences in another. It’s one thing when it’s maize is involved with no sentience and a lifespan of eight months, but an entirely different thing when it’s a human being with a mind and soul. Mary Shelley wrote something about this as well, I’m told.
Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.
NewLines
It’s hard to draw lines, but I see a pretty important distinction between editing out a gene known to cause a life-threatening disease vs. editing genes for sex, eye color, and so on. But even the former isn’t hazard-free.
Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.
NewAnother point of reference
Aaron, good picture with gene editing, and it’s worth noting that to do this—at least in the first generation—you’ve got to do IVF, which generally requires a LOT of eggs to be fertilized to get a viable child. In other words, it tends to abort a lot of kids. You can do it without that problem, but it takes some doing and expense.
Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.