Dark History, Bright Future?: The Ethical Conundrum of Eugenics and Genomics
By Alexander Capron
| 04. 26. 2007
A talk given at the ESRC Genome Policy and Research Forum at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland
It is a cliché to suggest that we are standing at the edge of a new age, but in terms of genetic science, that cliché is an understatement. Just as the great gains in theory and methodology achieved by physicists early in the 20th century produced both an exponential growth in understanding and applications of that knowledge that transformed human affairs, so the work of genetic researchers in the last decade of the 20th century set the stage for what I am sure we all agree will be equally astonishing theoretical and practical transformations in biology in this century.
There has, of course, been a great deal of hype as well. The tendency to claim "breakthrough" for every research finding, especially those related to grave human diseases, is visible on a daily basis in the media, as well as in more scientific settings. This tendency, which is born both of intellectual excitement and simple pride, driven as well by the competition for research funding and by the imperatives of University publicity departments, carries the potential for backlash.
Yet, even if...
Related Articles
By Peter Wehling, Tino Plümecke, and Isabelle Bartram
| 03.26.2025
This article was originally published as “Soziogenomik und polygene Scores” in issue 272 (February 2025) of the German-language journal Gen-ethischer Informationsdienst (GID); translated by the authors.
In mid-November 2024, the British organization Hope not Hate published its investigative research ‘Inside the Eugenics Revival’. In addition to documentating an active international “race research” network, the investigation also brought to light the existence of a US start-up that offers eugenic embryo selection. Heliospect Genomics aims to enable wealthy couples to...
By Dalton Conley, The New York Times | 03.13.2025
Since Francis Galton coined the phrase “nature versus nurture” 150 years ago, the debate about what makes us who we are has dominated the human sciences.
Do genes determine our destiny, as the hereditarians would say? Or do we enter...
By Staff, The Medicine Maker | 03.21.2025
"The Promise and Peril of CRISPR" cover by Johns Hopkins University Press
As a paediatrician taking care of children with sickle cell disease, Neal Baer, a Harvard Medical School graduate, was in awe of the power of CRISPR technologies. Later...
By Loren Johnston, Portland Press Herald | 03.15.2025
