Mathew Sarsfield
Miss Cooper
Senior Project
4 May 2014
The Morality of Genetic Engineering
In 2002, a lesbian couple tried to conceive a child who was deaf. Being deaf themselves, they wanted to have a child that shared their disability because they did not view deafness as a disability, but rather as a gift. They had previously succeeded in having a deaf daughter, and were trying to have a son this time. Since they could not have a child themselves, they looked toward a friend who had many generations of deafness in his family, and used his sperm in artificial insemination to conceive a deaf child (Savulescu). The couple described tried to use genetic engineering in order to design a child that suited their preferences. This instance could …show more content…
Using the definition of moral, genetic engineering can also be defined as immoral when used to get an unfair advantage in sports. In the world of sports, the use of steroids is illegal. People who use steroids are considered cheaters and ridiculed for using drugs to give themselves an unfair advantage against other players. In the field of genetic engineering, one could improve his/her performance on the field without a trace of any sort of drug, making him/herself stronger than his/her opponents. However, in order for people to actually get any results from genetic engineering when used for muscle enhancement, the change in the muscles would have to be done early in life. Since the ability to build muscle is purely genetic, genetic modification could be a successful route for parents who want their children to be elite …show more content…
Maxwell J. Mehlman, author of “Transhumanist Dreams and Distopian Nightmares,” said that, “If the modification were not made in an early-stage embryo, then the modified DNA would have to be injected into as many cells as possible in each of the muscles to be strengthened” (61), making it more feasible to modify the embryo’s DNA than having to modify it later in life. Since a person cannot ask a baby if the baby wants to become a successful athlete, no one is able to guarantee that the modified child will become an athlete. Every person has different goals in life, and whether a child will grow up to be a great athlete is unpredictable. The modification would be absolutely useless if the person did not want to pursue a career in sports. Even if he did pursue a career in sports, it would still give him an unfair advantage against players who had not been genetically modified. This advantage would be an equivalent to steroids since it is the use of medical processes to give genetically modified people an unfair advantage in
Miss Cooper
Senior Project
4 May 2014
The Morality of Genetic Engineering
In 2002, a lesbian couple tried to conceive a child who was deaf. Being deaf themselves, they wanted to have a child that shared their disability because they did not view deafness as a disability, but rather as a gift. They had previously succeeded in having a deaf daughter, and were trying to have a son this time. Since they could not have a child themselves, they looked toward a friend who had many generations of deafness in his family, and used his sperm in artificial insemination to conceive a deaf child (Savulescu). The couple described tried to use genetic engineering in order to design a child that suited their preferences. This instance could …show more content…
Using the definition of moral, genetic engineering can also be defined as immoral when used to get an unfair advantage in sports. In the world of sports, the use of steroids is illegal. People who use steroids are considered cheaters and ridiculed for using drugs to give themselves an unfair advantage against other players. In the field of genetic engineering, one could improve his/her performance on the field without a trace of any sort of drug, making him/herself stronger than his/her opponents. However, in order for people to actually get any results from genetic engineering when used for muscle enhancement, the change in the muscles would have to be done early in life. Since the ability to build muscle is purely genetic, genetic modification could be a successful route for parents who want their children to be elite …show more content…
Maxwell J. Mehlman, author of “Transhumanist Dreams and Distopian Nightmares,” said that, “If the modification were not made in an early-stage embryo, then the modified DNA would have to be injected into as many cells as possible in each of the muscles to be strengthened” (61), making it more feasible to modify the embryo’s DNA than having to modify it later in life. Since a person cannot ask a baby if the baby wants to become a successful athlete, no one is able to guarantee that the modified child will become an athlete. Every person has different goals in life, and whether a child will grow up to be a great athlete is unpredictable. The modification would be absolutely useless if the person did not want to pursue a career in sports. Even if he did pursue a career in sports, it would still give him an unfair advantage against players who had not been genetically modified. This advantage would be an equivalent to steroids since it is the use of medical processes to give genetically modified people an unfair advantage in