
Is human germline editing compatible with human dignity?
Human germline editing, whether it is for health reasons or for the more ambitious project of Transhumanism, is intensely controversial. International bioethics agreements ban or discourage it, but there is growing interest in its purported medical and commercial benefits.
In a recent issue of The New Bioethics, Calum MacKellar, of the Scottish Council on Human Bioethics, argued that it is utterly incompatible with equality in an inclusive society. People with disabilities would inevitably be devalued. It violates a foundational commitment in the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights to ensure that “All human beings are born … equal in dignity and rights”.
it is difficult to see how heritable genome editing can ever be seen as ethically acceptable by a pro-equality, inclusive society. This is because such a civilized society will always seek to consider all individuals with or without heritable biological disabilities or differences – variations which will never disappear – as inherently equal in value and in worth.
The video below neatly summarises his concerns in two minutes.
More Stories
Could newborns solve the kidney shortage crisis?
Kidneys from newborn babies could be a “game-changing” solution to organ shortage crisis, according to an American study. According to...
Chinese scientists grow humanized kidneys in pigs
Chinese scientists have successfully created chimeric embryos containing a combination of human and pig cells. When transferred into surrogate pig...
People born from donor gametes in UK will be able to doorknock their dad
As of October 1, 18-year-olds in the United Kingdom conceived with donor gametes will be able to find out who...
Dodging a bullet: how a report recommending ‘chestfeeding’ and inclusive pronouns almost became the norm in British maternity wards
A transgender maternity report commissioned by public health authorities in the UK last year made headlines by recommending the use...
Bioethics writer warns of ‘public health imperialism’
After three innocent children were gunned down in three months in the American state of New Mexico, the Governor, Michelle...
Euthanasia nurses in Belgium smother patient when lethal drugs fail to work
Alexina Wattiez wasn’t supposed to die like this. The 36-year-old Belgian woman was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2021. She...