Genetic engineering has given the world hope for a brighter future. With promises of disease eradication, increased intelligence, and longer lifespans, it is no wonder that people believe that this altering our genetic code is the solution to all of our problems. However, with all these potential benefits, there come potential dangers. A new genetic-engineering breakthrough has come our way. Referred to as CRISPR, this new technology is the easiest, cheapest, and most reliable way of modifying the human genome to date (citation needed). This breakthrough finally provided humans with the power to master the genetic code. Are humans capable of making the right decisions when they are in possession of such power? In April 2015, a group of 18 prominent
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in Mukherjee, "The Future of the Future") Genetic engineering gives much hope for the future of human health, but with enhanced technology and the ability to engineer a human 's germ line, we have to assess the dangers that could result from this therapy as well. In the book Transhumanist Dreams and Dystopian Nightmares: The Promise and Peril of Genetic Engineering, Maxwell Mehlman points out the danger of unforeseen harm brought to future generations through genetic …show more content…
Philosopher George Santayana wrote, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" (qtd. in Flamm, par. 1). One of the great examples of genetic manipulation being used in malicious ways is the eugenics movement. Many people associate eugenics with Nazis and concentration camps, but the movement was not confined to Germany. Other countries, including Canada, wanted to achieve genetic perfection. In order to achieve this genetic utopia, however, to achieve a genetically perfect society, you must eradicate those who society has deemed to be genetically imperfect. Many countries implemented insidious laws like forced sterilization in an attempt to achieve their goals (Leung, par.1). In Western Canada, most of those who had been determined to be genetically imperfect had mental or developmental disabilities. Other groups who were subjected to forced sterilization included single mothers and the poor (Leung, par. 6). Governments looking to achieve a genetic utopia ultimately reduced the worth of their inhabitants to their genetic code, and would not acknowledge that there was perhaps more to a human being than their
in Mukherjee, "The Future of the Future") Genetic engineering gives much hope for the future of human health, but with enhanced technology and the ability to engineer a human 's germ line, we have to assess the dangers that could result from this therapy as well. In the book Transhumanist Dreams and Dystopian Nightmares: The Promise and Peril of Genetic Engineering, Maxwell Mehlman points out the danger of unforeseen harm brought to future generations through genetic …show more content…
Philosopher George Santayana wrote, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" (qtd. in Flamm, par. 1). One of the great examples of genetic manipulation being used in malicious ways is the eugenics movement. Many people associate eugenics with Nazis and concentration camps, but the movement was not confined to Germany. Other countries, including Canada, wanted to achieve genetic perfection. In order to achieve this genetic utopia, however, to achieve a genetically perfect society, you must eradicate those who society has deemed to be genetically imperfect. Many countries implemented insidious laws like forced sterilization in an attempt to achieve their goals (Leung, par.1). In Western Canada, most of those who had been determined to be genetically imperfect had mental or developmental disabilities. Other groups who were subjected to forced sterilization included single mothers and the poor (Leung, par. 6). Governments looking to achieve a genetic utopia ultimately reduced the worth of their inhabitants to their genetic code, and would not acknowledge that there was perhaps more to a human being than their