Human genetic modification has the potential to violate human dignity, erode the unconditional love of parents, and lead to eugenic social inequality. Allowing genetic modification without fully discussing its negative effects is premature and should be banned.
Science is advancing every day. One of the biggest scientific issues right now is human genetic modification. While some scientists argue that human genetic modification (HGM) can bring great advancements to humanity, critics argue that it will destroy human purity. I’m not a fan of human genetic modification either. In this article, I will discuss why HGM should be banned.
The first reason is that it violates human dignity. When humans are able to manipulate their own abilities, they become objects. They are stripped of their inherent rights. Human beings are no different from any other commodity on the market. This will lead to the fading of a parent’s unconditional love for their child. Parents who have paid dearly to genetically engineer their children to have the best possible “abilities” will have high expectations of them, which means they will have certain expectations of their children from the start, making it difficult for the noble emotion of unconditional love to be established. Critics also argue that we cannot play God with our children and create them. Are children born with certain abilities free to decide their own future? Even if they want to follow a path that matches their abilities, can we say that even that will is not manipulated? In the end, children will only have the illusion of freedom, which is not true freedom. Therefore, the commodification of human beings through genetic modification will undermine their inherent dignity and consequently disenfranchise them.
Proponents of genetic modification argue that children’s freedom is not violated because they cannot choose their own genes when they are born. But suppose genetic modification results in a highly intelligent baby. Since career paths are largely determined by the person’s abilities, it is likely that the baby will grow up to have a job that utilizes his or her high intelligence. Without genetic manipulation, the possibilities would be relatively similar rather than skewed in one direction.
The second reason is that human genetic modification is likely to lead to eugenic social inequality. It would be difficult to avoid the phenomenon of “genetically advantaged” people, who are born with superior abilities compared to the average person, being discriminated against by genetic manipulation. This could happen in the same way that people with disabilities fear that social tolerance is being undermined by eugenicists: human genetic modification will force our bodies to adapt to a society that is prejudiced against “normal” people. It could also exacerbate the gap between rich and poor, as the more highly valued the ability, the more expensive the genetic modification is likely to be. It has been said that a market economy is good, but a market society is not. We may be moving beyond a market society to a “market humanity” where genes are power. This would undermine the foundations of all ideas based on egalitarianism, political diversity, and human equality.
It could be argued that if genetic manipulation is heavily taxed and only available to the wealthy few, it won’t be a problem overall. But high taxes don’t solve inequality. There are many wealthy people in the world, and they are likely to pay any high price for genetic modification. Also, if we are going to impose high taxes to prevent inequality, wouldn’t it be better to ban genetic modification in the first place?
Once you start genetically modifying humans, it’s hard to go back, so it’s worth discussing it thoroughly before you start. Once genetically engineered foods appeared on the market, people were unable to dispose of them without risking dependence. This precedent reminds us that human genetic modification needs to be subjected to a full democratic process from the very beginning. Worries about the actual consequences of human genetic modification on our society aside, the fact that there hasn’t been enough public discussion of genetic modification is reason enough to stop genetic modification research right now. Human genetic modification is still premature.
