RE: Should gene editing technology be used to remove the violent predisposition?
I don't think we should start breeding ourselves like we do our animals, it's very much reminiscent of Hitler's idea of a Master Race. Look into the history serial killers and you will see two things continually popping up and that is child abuse/neglect and, or some sort of traumatic brain injury. I would have to assume the same to be true of mass murderers and spree killers.
I'm not saying these things automatically make you a killer nor am I denying there may be some genetic predisposition to violence of this type. What I'm saying is this is one more step towards designer children. We already have abortions being done simply because a child is the wrong gender, in some countries by force, or when some sort of "abnormality" such as down syndrome is suspected. It's truly a scary thought to me.
You do realize humans select who to breed with and who not. So it's always been a matter of selection of who to breed with. The problem with Hitler isn't that he let humans select but that sterilization was used to reduce the ability of humans to select. It was to take away options not to add more, and it came from the top down by government.
If you decide to shut off or erase one of your genes who should be able to stop you?
It's not about who is there to stop someone, but what it could lead to, there's just some things better left alone.
Also I think there is a huge difference between two human beings procreating because of a genuine sexual desire rather than being bred like dogs, killing the undesirables and encouraging breeding between the most "pure" or sitting down at a lab and checking off what genes to remove/replace from your future offspring or deciding to abort one that is wrong
Then you shouldn't edit your genes. You can't stop me and and others from editing ours. If it means leaving to go to a country where you can't do anything about it then it's just going to happen one way or another. And this in my opinion is a human right, to have that autonomy.
Human beings get to decide who to reproduce with. If a woman does not want to have offspring with the local Hitler then she has the right to abort the child. If a child or adult has genes which make them vulnerable to problems then they ought to have the right to deactivate it. Would you let someone with a disease suffer when they can edit their genes to live longer?
Gene editing does not work like how you describe in your post. There is no killing involved. Technology has advanced now to the point where they can either cut out the bad genes using a sophisticated splicing technique, or temporarily turn off the undesired genes in a non-permanent manner.
I am all for giving this level of control to individuals to determine their own destiny rather than to leave it up to chance and their genes.
Aw comon... Lets get weird! Chop up those genes.
This is how we future. Even if we turn into strange reptiles, it'll be so cool.
I saw a vid the other day about a biology major that cured his extreme lactose-intolerance with "biohacking."
He hasn't turned green or scale-y yet, but there's still hope...
Reptile People 2018