Human genetic engineering is coming
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Human genetic engineering is coming
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Re: Human genetic engineering is coming
#2The film Gattaca (1997) speaks to this better than I can.
Re: Human genetic engineering is coming
#3The film Gattaca (1997) speaks to this better than I can.
I thought the same before reading the article.
After reading it I feel like Gattaca barely scratched the surface. It was actually a pretty tame movie.
Some of the points made by the author are far scarier: gene editing startups with VC funding and sociopathic founders or amoral autocratic governments (think N.Korea, Russia, etc)
Re: Human genetic engineering is coming
#4This may seem like a controversial opinion, but I think that it's a good development.
Some people have lost the "genetic lottery" in ways that make them dependent on medication. And for some, it may block career options, such as color vision deficiencies.
We should embrace it, instead of painting dystopian scenarios. At least, we shouldn't stop people from fixing problems that they were unfairly born with.
Re: Human genetic engineering is coming
#5This may seem like a controversial opinion, but I think that it's a good development. Some people have lost the "genetic lottery" in ways that make them dependent on medication. And for some, it may block career options, such as color vision deficiencies. We should embrace it, instead of painting dystopian scenarios. At least, we shouldn't stop people from fixing problems that they were unfairly born with.
From the article I learned that there is "somatic gene editing, a therapeutic application of CRISPR administered by injection to consenting subjects",
as well as "germline editing, in which changes are made to the DNA of an embryo".
The author is concerned by the latter and I think you describe the former.
Re: Human genetic engineering is coming
#6This may seem like a controversial opinion, but I think that it's a good development. Some people have lost the "genetic lottery" in ways that make them dependent on medication. And for some, it may block career options, such as color vision deficiencies. We should embrace it, instead of painting dystopian scenarios. At least, we shouldn't stop people from fixing problems that they were unfairly born with.
And at what point does "problems that they were unfairly born with" stop?
Re: Human genetic engineering is coming
#7The current push for equity combined with the technical ability to genetically engineer humans is frightening. Society has decided we have "incorrect" levels of diversity...though nobody can answer what the correct levels are. Without any question of "how do you know what you're doing is correct" we're changing our environment as much as possible to achieve the "correct" level of diversity. It's pure luck we can only modify our environment because we lack the technical capability to modify our genetics - given our current low standards of evidence, the damage we could do is immense.
We really need to come to terms with equity, privilege (nobody earned their genetics), etc. before this is a reality.
Re: Human genetic engineering is coming
#8This may seem like a controversial opinion, but I think that it's a good development. Some people have lost the "genetic lottery" in ways that make them dependent on medication. And for some, it may block career options, such as color vision deficiencies. We should embrace it, instead of painting dystopian scenarios. At least, we shouldn't stop people from fixing problems that they were unfairly born with.
And at what point does "problems that they were unfairly born with" stop?
Nowhere! Why draw the line right beneath yourself, we could all be better and it sucks that we aren't
Re: Human genetic engineering is coming
#9The current push for equity combined with the technical ability to genetically engineer humans is frightening. Society has decided we have "incorrect" levels of diversity...though nobody can answer what the correct levels are. Without any question of "how do you know what you're doing is correct" we're changing our environment as much as possible to achieve the "correct" level of diversity. It's pure luck we can only…
Equality?
Re: Human genetic engineering is coming
#10> In my mind, to alter genes that will be passed down from generation to generation is a sacred act
There is nothing sacred about it. It's just a biological process. The only problem with GM babies are ethical considerations. But given how humanity as a whole could benefit immensely if these tests are successful, I think it's worth the sacrifice. Like even today we brainwash kids into fighting pointless wars where there is literally no benefit to mankind. On the other hand Genetic engineering can literally carve a new race of humanity. I am pretty sure China is already doing it. Unfortunately the west is too weak to take such tough moral decisions which benefit the community at the expense of the individual. Communism will win over here. Hopefully it takes all of mankind with it rather than some super sino master race.