Genetic Manipulation and Man

Abstract

THE SCIENCE OF IMPROVING HUMAN BEINGS by applying the principles of inheritance to obtain a desirable combination of physical characteristics and mental traits is called eugenics. The term was coined by Francis Galton in 1883; literally translated, it means to be true born or well born. Although most writers on this subject begin by citing the Greeks, the idea of improving the human stock probably goes back even farther. Even though he lacked any knowledge of the laws of heredity, primitive man could see that parents with imperfections often bore children with the same deficiencies. Perhaps the earliest aim was to produce a race of physically perfect men, capable of coping most efficiently with the tremendous hardships they had to endure, including contests with enemies and wild beasts. Paralleling the desire to develop physically was the need to develop intellectually; and cultures may have tended to develop their mental capacities more than their physiques. Plato advanced the idea of race improvement by methods similar to those of present-day stock breeders. In The Republic he proposed that matings between the most nearly perfect men and women be encouraged and that their offspring be raised in a state nursery. Inferior persons should be prevented from reproducing; and if by chance they should have children these should be destroyed. To some extent Plato's eugenic methods were practiced in Sparta; the result was a population of people with fine physiques (Castle, 1925; Fasten, 1935). In Athens the emphasis was on art, politics, and science. Here, too, people of good background were encouraged to marry among their kind. Did this pay off? Galton (1909) noted that during the 6th to 4th centuries B.C. Athens produced some of the most illustrious men the world has ever known. Whether the decline of Greek society was due to master-slave intermarriage, as some have suggested, or whether the inferior classes reproduced more rapidly than the superior classes, one can only guess. Possibly the downfall resulted from economic rather than genetic changes. The eugenic movement appears to have made little headway until the 19th century. Charles Darwin, Francis Galton, and Gregor Mendel were among the scientists who kindled the spark of modern eugenics; directly or indirectly, their work stimulated interest in this field. The Darwinian concept of the survival of the fittest brought to the fore many inescapable implications. In The Descent of Man (1874) Darwin wrote: It is our natural prejudice and arrogance which made our forefathers declare that they were descended from demi-gods and which leads us to demure to this conclusion. The growing evidence supporting the theory of evolution, together with the refinement of man's ability to influence the evolution of domesticated plants and animals, stimulated work along eugenic lines. Darwin's cousin Francis Galton, the English anthropometrist and examiner of family records, led the first big surge toward eugenic studies. In his book Enquiries Into Human Faculty and Its Development (1883) he coined the term eugenics, defining it as the study of agencies, under social control, that could improve or impair the hereditary qualities of future generations, either physically or mentally (to paraphrase the 2nd ed., 1908). He proposed improvement in human breeding by decreasing the birthrate of unfit persons and increasing the birthrate of fit persons. He made extensive studies on criminality, insanity, blindness, and other human defects. Galton was able to understand the inheritance pattern of some human traits. He recognized the importance of twin studies for human genetics and was aware of the social implications of genetic change in man. He was instrumental in applying more sophisticated statistical methods of solving problems of genetics. (It is interesting to note that Galton, who was unusually gifted and was devoted to the principle that better-qualified people should produce at least their share of children, himself died childless.) Mendel shed new light on the genetics of man with