Morality of Genetic Editing
If you could save someone from a life or misery before they were born, would you do it?
Having just re-watched Jurassic Park (the original film), I noticed how the morality of genetic editing was only briefly brushed upon. Even the characters with the most to gain from the park were shocked by the horror of bringing dinosaurs back to life. So what is it about genetic engineering that feels so morally grey?
If you’ve read my blog on deontology, you’ll know that morals are rarely black and white. In fact, we often grade our morals as lesser or greater depending on the act. For example, in this instance we could edit the genetics of an embryo to rectify a genetic disease, and many would argue that this is far more morally acceptable than cloning a person entirely. And yet we know that cloning a sheep has already been achieved, and in China it has been reported that genetic mutation on non‑viable human embryos has also been successful. [1]
So where do we stop?
If we can edit the genetic sequence to prevent a child from living a life of misery, then is that okay? Would this mutation actually create an entirely new person, essentially killing the original?
Look at people now, people are almost never happy with the way they are. We’ve already seen what they will do when given the choice to alter themselves: cosmetic surgery, enhancers, hypnotherapy. Does this give us a glimpse into the future? A future where diseases are cured first, and then we begin creating children who are more attentive, more intelligent, more beautiful?
As a mother to a child with a genetic mutation, this topic really bothers me. Not because I’m strongly opinionated about it, but because I genuinely don’t know how I feel. If my daughter didn’t have her genetic mutation, she would surely be entirely different. Her personality follows a pattern that other children with her condition also share. Without it, perhaps she wouldn’t love music as much, or animals. She would have been raised differently too, someone who learned to walk at one year old would surely be treated differently to someone who took their first steps at four. But on the flip side, she would be able to communicate with us more easily and have a lower risk of heart conditions and seizures.
It makes me terribly sad to think of losing the version of my daughter I know now. She has brought so much joy to our lives, and a whole new perspective and opportunity. In fact, I’m quite sure I wouldn’t be an author now if it weren’t for her additional needs.
In my own dystopian sci‑fi book, there is an elite race of people born from genetic engineering, not just healthier, but with outstanding brain power and stamina. Through genetic engineering, they have evolved to the point of being unrecognisable from Homo sapiens. They’ve gone so far that the race has become nothing more than a worker class, born to labour in order to heal the earth, until the day they die.
Is this where genetic engineering could lead us?
