Human Genetic Engineering

Q: Out of curiousity, how many atheists here are against/for human genetic engineering for (obviously) non-religious reasons? Or perhaps to what extent? Would you support engineering to make a person immune to certain diseases only, or would you support modifications not directly related to health concerns such as faster reading speed or more muscle mass? I was watching something today about potential genetic changes to make people immune to certain diseases among other things. I am not sure where I stand on the issue yet because I have only heard a few of the arguments presented on both sides and I think I would be interested to hear some more opinions. Right now I do not feel that making any changes to a persons body with out consent - or at least reasonable "implied" consent - are ethically right. (is there a word for that kind of thinking btw?)

A: -I can only speak for myself when I say that I tentatively support it, provided that it's carefully monitored. I think you dangerously oversimplify the issue. It's very difficult to predict the behavior of genetic modifications. For example, imagine modifying a gene (or set of genes) to immunize against a disease. What if that change also make the person resistant to certain drugs, making the treatment of other diseases much more difficult? Or what if a person that has been genetically immunized against disease A has children with someone similarly immunized against disease B? There could be unforeseen consequences for their children. My point is that genetic engineering is here and it will be used. I just think it should be used very cautiously. I also want to stress that the consequences of changing a person's genes may have consequences beyond that individual. I think the cat is out of the bag. Genetic engineering is like our understanding of nuclear physics. It can be used to treat cancer, perform noninvasive scans, power entire cities, or vaporize them in a fraction of a second. The best we can hope for is that the application of genetic engineering will be carefully thought out. I agree, but as I said before, the consequences of being granted that right may extend well beyond that individual. - Let me just say up front that I'm all for all different kinds of human genetic engineering. Everything the market can bear; I want parents to have the ability to genofix their kids with every modification, advantage, predisposition, and inclination they can jam into the kid. Stronger, faster, smarter, longer-lived; bring it on. The only way humans have ever gotten ahead is by exploding the restrictions of the path. Yes, some of the resulting chaos of that explosion caused people to get hurt, but fear of getting hurt on a national scale will only result in us all drowning in our own stagnant genetic pool.

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