The world's first genetically engineered babies have already been born. Should we embrace this new technology? http://smarturl.it/GEBabiesIQ2 pic.twitter.com/ecyintlx27
Is there any _principled_ ethical difference between genetically engineering babies vs. using selective mate choice to favor certain heritable traits (which animals have been doing for hundreds of millions of years)?
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I suppose one is more deliberate and planned as opposed to instinctive, and one allows for potentially disturbing policies, state/corporate control.
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Yes, but family, religious, state, and corporate control has been distorting mating markets for thousands of years already.... Power always tries to meddle with reproduction, and often succeeds.
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Is there, in principle, any ethical difference between an ethical difference and a _principled_ ethical difference?
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An 'ethical difference' often invokes moral disgust, 'yuck reactions', and slippery slope arguments. Principled arguments don't.
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Humility about unintended consequences, for one. We don't usually get things right on the first try. Only one of the above methods will likely lead to increased negative consequences for babies, even if we cannot immediately predict what those consequences might be.
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Mate choice often leads to unanticipated side-effects, spontaneous abortion, embryonic death, catastrophic failures of development, etc. We're just used to those as the cost of biological reproduction.
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One has intrinsic limits, the other does not. What extrinsic limits do we set on genetic engineering (e.g., should it be used for cosmetic purposes?) and how can we be sure that people will stick to them? Until you can answer those questions, I'll continue seeing it as different.
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I'll play devil's advocate and say yes. Bc putting a zygote or gamete through non-standard enviro and handling can have epigenetic effects that are unpredictable. As a former organ cell culturist- nothing's exactly the same as in vivo even if you make the custom cell media.
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Evolutionarily true, in fact intriguing.
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