Coming Soon to the "Genetic Supermarket" near You

Abstract

Recent medical studies have indicated that synthesized human growth hormone (hGH) may cosmetically enhance short, but otherwise perfectly healthy, individuals by adding inches to their final predicted height. In this note, Curtis Kin examines the legal and ethical implications of such a discovery, arguing that nontherapeutic hGH treatment is likely the first of many biotechnology and gene therapy enhancements that may be available to the public in a "genetic supermarket" of enhancement products. Mr. Kin finds that the current regulatory framework for biotechnology and gene therapy inadequately regulates unapproved uses of hGH and fails to address properly its implications for a genetic "race to perfection." He proposes changes to the current regulatory framework that will enforce a strict distinction between therapeutic and enhancement applications of biotechnology and gene therapy. These changes in the law, Mr. Kin reasons, will help to solve the social and ethical problems posed by these emerging developments in technology.