Should Genetic Engineering be used to add Intelligence Genes to Humans? If you have the ability to design your own child, what kind of genes would you add? Would it be genes associated with attractive physical appearance, strong immunity, or great intelligence? In the article Future Humans: Four Ways We May, or May Not, Evolve, James Owen gives four predictions regarding the future of humanity, one of which predicts that in the future, the path of artificial selection would be directed by genetic engineering. According to Owen, the ability of humans to genetically modify organisms will dictate the progression of human evolution towards reaching human perfection (2009/2016, pp. 78-79). But in our understanding of Owen’s ideas, there is one
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However, the idea that inserting intelligence genes would guarantee success and that only natural-born intelligent individuals would be educated is not completely true as this idea depends on the stereotypes that people hold. In reality, having only intelligence would not guarantee success, as there are other factors that are needed such as leadership and communication skills. Furthermore, intelligence can also be achieved through hard work and perseverance. If someone works hard enough to learn, they would eventually reach a point where they have the same abilities as a natural-born intelligent person. The only difference might be the amount of effort each respective person puts into their work. On the other hand, the idea that inserting intelligence genes would decrease fertility is also not completely true as it depends on the stereotype that intelligent people are career-oriented. In reality, not all intelligent people view work as a higher priority than family and therefore intelligent people are still able to build a family and pass down their intelligent traits. As such, it is clear that these arguments are only true depending on how true the stereotypes are. Besides that, even though human enhancement through genetic engineering is unquestionable, there is still no perfect method to insert genes without any damage (Masci, 2016). Attempts on changing genes to improve human qualities have been made, such as inserting HIV resistant genes to embryos. However, according to the study in Pew Research Center, more than 50% of the attempts leads to failure (Masci, 2016). For this reason, the idea that genetic engineering would be used to insert intelligence genes to humans would only become true when scientists master the process of inserting genes. Until scientists truly master the process of inserting genes, it could be argued that it would be better for
However, the idea that inserting intelligence genes would guarantee success and that only natural-born intelligent individuals would be educated is not completely true as this idea depends on the stereotypes that people hold. In reality, having only intelligence would not guarantee success, as there are other factors that are needed such as leadership and communication skills. Furthermore, intelligence can also be achieved through hard work and perseverance. If someone works hard enough to learn, they would eventually reach a point where they have the same abilities as a natural-born intelligent person. The only difference might be the amount of effort each respective person puts into their work. On the other hand, the idea that inserting intelligence genes would decrease fertility is also not completely true as it depends on the stereotype that intelligent people are career-oriented. In reality, not all intelligent people view work as a higher priority than family and therefore intelligent people are still able to build a family and pass down their intelligent traits. As such, it is clear that these arguments are only true depending on how true the stereotypes are. Besides that, even though human enhancement through genetic engineering is unquestionable, there is still no perfect method to insert genes without any damage (Masci, 2016). Attempts on changing genes to improve human qualities have been made, such as inserting HIV resistant genes to embryos. However, according to the study in Pew Research Center, more than 50% of the attempts leads to failure (Masci, 2016). For this reason, the idea that genetic engineering would be used to insert intelligence genes to humans would only become true when scientists master the process of inserting genes. Until scientists truly master the process of inserting genes, it could be argued that it would be better for