‘New’ Eugenics, The: Role in Society

Abstract

With the continued progress of the Human Genome Mapping Project to identify all the genes in the body and the technologies that are developing from it there is renewed concern about eugenic applications. Eugenics means using science for the qualitative and quantitative improvement of our genetic constitution. The subject was initiated by the Ancient Greeks and developed enthusiastically by a Victorian scientist, Francis Galton, with considerable support from his cousin Charles Darwin in the latter half of the nineteenth century (Kevles 1995). Its scope has increased enormously since the recent revolution in molecular genetics. Genetic databases can be easily obtained for individuals either before or at birth, and are being constructed for entire populations; and genetic markers are being developed to predict risks of developing cancer, diabetes, early heart attacks, and dementias. These markers can be used for diagnosis to see if the early embryo possesses deleterious genes predisposing to disease or even carries personality ‘traits’ such as a tendency to become alcoholic, obese, or neurotic in later life. Such embryos can be discarded without the need to terminate pregnancy in favor of ones with ‘better’ genetic endowments leading to the concept of ‘designer babies.’ Genetic markers can also be used in childhood to predict the likelihood of developing common diseases in later adult life and this may lead to discrimination by the insurance industries, employers, adoption agencies, and other state institutions. The past history of eugenics has been appalling, with gross abuses in Germany between 1933 and 1945 when sterilization and mass extermination were performed. Revulsion generated by the laws of any state that interferes with people's reproductive choices or freedoms—whether for the theoretical purpose of improving the ‘gene pool’ or for other reasons such as the current demographic policy of China to restrict on child per family—has led to eugenics acquiring an evil reputation (Duster 1990). However, the new genetic technologies are here to stay. To prevent such abuses for the future there has to be mechanisms to regulate these new technologies when applied to medical and social problems.