Genetic Research and the Possibility of Discrimination
Mar 23rd, 2009By Courtney Phillips
For a number of years, scientists the world over have been working on the Human Genome Project, a massive concerted effort to identify every single gene in the human genetic code. While this is an effort that is laudable for a wide variety of reasons, there are detractors out there who believe that this project will ultimately end up resulting in major cases of discrimination in the future.
Genetic research has come a long way, and those with sufficient capitol are already able to make decisions based on their children’s lives before they ever take their first breath. Many people believe that this is the best way to the healthiest possible population in the future and that it is only a matter of time before we are able to completely eradicate illnesses that are attributed to genetic factors.
For detractors, this is the beginning of widespread discrimination. With the ability to prevent genetic diseases and eliminate people with these diseases from existing in the first place, detractors believe that those still living and afflicted with genetic disorders will ultimately be viewed as second-class citizens.
Civil liberties groups also cite that privacy will be forever breached as we continue to gather data on individuals, even before they are born, without consent. They believe that biological and genetic data are not public property and should not be treated as such.
Certainly, a great number of discoveries have been made because of the Human Genome Project. Genetic studies in a wide variety of ailments from Diabetes to Crohn’s disease are still being studied and deliberated upon. There are many out there who believe that this is a noble cause, but that actually engineering people with this knowledge is not ethical.
Naturally, there are two sides to this issue of ethics: one that believes it is morally wrong to alter human genetic code and that dire complications may arise from attempting to create a race free of genetic complication; the other believes that it would be unethical to not help resolve problems before they arise.
As the Human Genome Project continues to make significant headway in the field of genetics, there is no doubt that these types of debates will continue. For now, scientists will keep trying to learn as much as they can while mapping human genetic code.
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