The Future Of Genetic Engineering And the Moral Cost

The other night I watched a movie that somehow slipped through the cracks for me and made me question the morality of genetic engineering. That movie was Gattaca, which is set in our world in the not too far off future where the majority of people have their children genetically engineered to remove any undesirable traits before birth. Those who can’t afford to pay for this service, or simply choose not to partake, sentence their children to a life of remedial labor professions. Despite how intelligent or how much effort one could put into his life of study, they will never be able to move up in class.

This reminded me of a post I made a while ago about potentially abusing genetic engineering past the point of reason. I think most of us believe that if we were able to remove undesirable genetic traits like a high risk of cancer or heart disease at a young age, we would. However what takes it too far is if say we inserted the best genetic traits into your child, essentially giving them not only a leg up against others, but a clear advantage. The wealthier you are the more extreme the service you would be able to afford.

This is where my morality is torn, because half of me thinks that perhaps this is the way forward for a new human evolution. These new genetically modified children could essentially be similar to the branching off of early human beings from chimpanzees. Essentially the old naturally born children with undesirable genetics would eventually die out. Mankind would be able to advance as a species with a whole race of more intellectually superior genetically engineered brethren.

However, the question I have is what makes us human? There is a very good chance that it is our very genetic defects that make us the human beings we are today. We are in fact the product of a trillion mistakes. How far should we as a race value individuality versus the greater good of man kind? I really don’t have the answer, in fact no one does because there is no right answer.

Im not a particularly religious man so much of the moral dilemmas I face revolve not around answering to a higher power, but rather what is right and fair for our civilization as a whole. Should we accept that if the rich and powerful have, either by luck or skill, amassed a large fortune, then it gives them the right to create genetically superior children? Do we accept that the new elite will most likely derive from a few genetic lines, or should we make this technology available to all for free?

I thought this might be an interesting idea to explore and maybe change the way some of you think. If you have not seen the film Gattaca as well, I would highly recommend it as it changed my way of thinking as well. I dont think that this idea is going to be tested a million years away, I fully believe that it will be tested in many of our lifetimes.Let me know what you think.