GENETICS
SCIENCE & SOCIETY
The Ethics of Genetics
Research in genetics, genetic engineering and cloning can provide exciting advancements for our future, but there are also far-reaching ethical implications that put into question whether taking this research any further is the right thing to do.
Common Arguments Against
Objection on religious grounds: it is wrong to "play god" and interfere with natural human processes and God's creations.
Animals who have been genetically altered have been known to suffer from additional health risks and early deaths which is cruel and unethical.
What's to stop technology that was originally intended for genuine reasons, such as curing diseases, getting out of hand and being used to control superficial traits such as eye colour.
Common Responses
If it were wrong to interfere with God's creations then all modern agriculture and medicine would be wrong. God would have intended us to all be vegetarian if that were the case.
Genetic engineering would never be put to use unless it had undergone rigorous testing to discover the risks. It would be unethical to use humans for this testing so the next best thing is animals.
If technology such as CRISPR was ever put into widespread use, there would be very strict regulations that controlled what it was used for and who it was used on.
Examples of Ethical Genetic Cases
Dollar a Day
Denver's "Dollar a Day" programme pays teenage girls a dollar every day they are not pregnant in the hopes of decreasing teenage pregnancy. As well as not getting pregnant, the girls must complete high school and enroll at a college in order to get the money. Girls who follow the programme through can get up to £2000 put in a college fund for them. The eugenics movement is a supporter of programmes like these, believing it to be an effective tool for controlling our future society.
Can Genetics tell us Everything About a Person?
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Nature
Nurture
One of the most common debates in genetics is deciding how big of a role it plays in our lives. There are some things that are inherently genetic, such as our physical appearance, but not everything is as clear-cut. Some scientists will suggest that our genes can also tell us things like our tendency to violent behaviour. However, psychologists such as Bandura have done experiments that seem to suggest our behaviour is learned through observation of others. Your genes could also tell you that your life expectancy should be high based on the limited chance of diseases. However, you go and smoke and lead an unhealthy lifestyle and get sick anyway.
What is Eugenics?
Many critics of genetics oppose it on the grounds that it's too similar to the eugenics movement. Eugenics' generic aim is to improve the genetic quality of the human race. It's most famously associated with the holocaust and Hitler’s aims to eradicate society of certain people. Negative views associated with eugenics include forced sterilisation and abortions, whereas more modern ones advocate for contraception and sex education. The United Nations' International Bioethics Committee urged the public not to confuse human genetic ethics with ethical issues surrounding the eugenics movement.
Autonomy Objection to Genetics
Jack Grubman
The autonomy objection states that if children are genetically engineered, they will lack autonomy and never be fully free
If children are engineered to have certain traits, such as an aptitude for music, they're being pointed towards a path in life that they may not have ordinarily chosen.
In response to this argument, people argue that even if you aren't designed that way, you still don't get a choice with what you're born with. It's up to a "genetic lottery."
It can also be argued that genetically selecting your child's characteristic is not that much different than parents who will do anything for their kids to succeed, eg. music lessons, private tutors.
Jack Grubman was a Wall Street stock analyst who upgraded AT&T’s stock rating just to gain favour from his boss who was helping him get his 2-year-old twins into a prestigious New York nursery school.
Socio-Economic Problems
In addition to traditional ethical problems that may arise from genetics, there are also socio-economic concerns. If the genetic designing of embryos becomes approved for widespread use, many worry that it could further the divide between higher and lower-income families. Genetic technology is likely to be expensive and only families with more money would be able to afford it. This could mean that higher income families could further advantage their children by increasing things like athletic ability, musical talent, intelligence, and decreasing disease.
It's also likely that genetic technology in developing countries may not be as regulated or advanced, increasing the potential risk to the public. In 2015, over 140 delegates gathered for a conference (BEINGS), which was designed to discuss and implement guidelines that would tackle ethical issues in genetics. Their 7th principle was specifically related to ensuring the safety of people from developing countries and the regulation of accessibility of genetic engineering so that it wouldn't just be higher income families that had the technology available to them.
Right to Genetic Privacy
With more advanced genetic technology constantly being developed, there is a worry of what your genetic information will be used for in the future and how private it will stay. It's possible we may live in a Gattaca like society where the following things are in place:
Insurance based on your genetic likelihood to get certain diseases
Eligibility for jobs or schools based on how intelligent your genes say your are
Romantic partners based on how compatible your genetics are with each other