I've just finished watching the fascinating documentary by Storyville (I'm binging the stuff on lockdown - recommended - loads of ace documentaries) called The Gene Revolution (2020) - anybody else here seen it?
Basically the long and the short of it is that there's this incredible molecule called CRISPR which is part of our biology's viral immune system. Using CRISPR biologists have recently discovered that they can "edit out" bad genes for genetic diseases - before, it was just a pipe dream. The "germ line" are the sperm and eggs - if the edit is put there then the traits will be in the reproductive line of offspring - elsewise they only last one generation. Eugenics translates as "good gene" and only has negative connotations because of unethical use of "editing the gene pool" practices by, for example, the Nazis. An end to lethal and debilitating genetic disorders ? That would be eugenics, of course, and also "playing god" - except eugenics is just a word and all scientists worth their salt would never "play" with this.
Do it - I say - get rid of just the horrible shit and leave it there - no need to make "super humans" and that would be a road to ruin - that's my 2c...yet...tricky!
Basically the long and the short of it is that there's this incredible molecule called CRISPR which is part of our biology's viral immune system. Using CRISPR biologists have recently discovered that they can "edit out" bad genes for genetic diseases - before, it was just a pipe dream. The "germ line" are the sperm and eggs - if the edit is put there then the traits will be in the reproductive line of offspring - elsewise they only last one generation. Eugenics translates as "good gene" and only has negative connotations because of unethical use of "editing the gene pool" practices by, for example, the Nazis. An end to lethal and debilitating genetic disorders ? That would be eugenics, of course, and also "playing god" - except eugenics is just a word and all scientists worth their salt would never "play" with this.
Do it - I say - get rid of just the horrible shit and leave it there - no need to make "super humans" and that would be a road to ruin - that's my 2c...yet...tricky!
