re eugenics subject re eugenics gordon banks writes probably within years a new type of eugenics will be possible maybe even sooner we are now mapping the human genome we will then start to work on manipulation of that genome using genetic engineering we will be able to insert whatever genes we want no breeding no hybrids etc the ethical question is should we two past problems with eugenics have been reducing the gene pool and defining the status of the eugenized inserting genes would not seem to reduce the gene pool unless the inserted genes later became transmissible to progeny then they may be able to crowd out garbage genes this may in the future become possible even if it does awareness of the need to maintain the gene pool would hopefully mean provisions will be made for saving genes that may come in handy later evidently the genes for sickle cell disease in equatorial africa and for diabetes in the hopi promoted survival in some conditions we don t really know what the future may hold for our environment the reduced wilderness and disease survival capacity of our relatively inbred domesticated animals comes to mind vulcanism nuclear winter ice age meteor impact new microbiological threats famine global warming etc etc are all conceivable therefore having as many genes as possible available is a good strategy for species survival of course the status of genetically altered individuals would start out as no different than anyone else s but if we could make philosopher kings with great bodies and long lives would we or they want to give them elevated status we could the romans did it with their kings without the benefits of such eugenics the race eventually realized and dealt with the problems which that caused but for a while it was a problem orwell introduced us to the notion of what might happen to persons genetically altered for more menial tasks but there is nothing new under the sun we treated slaves the same way for millennia before i see no inherent problem with gene therapy which avoids at least these problems humans have always had trouble having the virtue and wisdom to use any power that falls into their hands to good ends all the time that hasn t stopped the race as a whole yet many are the civilizations which have died from inability to adapt to environmental change however also many are the civilizations which have died from the abuse of their own power the ones which survived have hopefully learned a lesson from the fates of others and have survived by making better choices when their turns came not that i don t think that this gene altering power couldn t wipe us off the face of the earth or cause endless suffering nuclear power or global warming or whatever could and may still do that too the real issue is an issue of wisdom and virtue i personally don t think man has enough wisdom and virtue to pull this next challenge off any better than he did the for last few we as eugenists may make it an we may not if we don t i hope there are reservoirs of garbage people out in some backwater with otherwise long discarded garbage genes which will pull us through i believe that the real problem is and will probably always be the same man needs to accept input from the great spirit of god to overcome his lacks in the area of knowing how to use the power he has some men have and i believe all men may listen to and obey the still small voice of god in their hearts this is the way to begin to recieve the wisdom and virtue needed to escape the problems consequent to poor choices peoples have died out for many reasons the societies which failed to accept enough input from god to safely use the power they had developed have destroyed themselves and often others in the process it is self evident that the ones which survive today have either accepted enough input from the spirit to use their powers wisely enough to avoid or survive their own mistakes thus far or else haven t had enough power for long enough in summary i would say that the question of whether to use this new technology is really an ancient one and the answer in some ways hard in some ways easy is the same ancient answer it isn t the power it is the spirit sorry for the long post got carried away bob ruegg med unc edu
