Gene Editing Ethics & Eugenics
Gene Editing Ethics & Eugenics
Articles on the ethical implications of gene editing technologies including CRISPR, genetic selection, designer babies, and the threat of a new eugenics driven by genomic profiling and heritable genome modification.
gene editing ethics eugenicsJul 3, 20266 min
The Mediocrity Trap: How CRISPR Eugenics Could Erase Human Excellence
CRISPR-based embryo selection and germline editing promise designer babies but deliver only altered ones—whose strengths become hidden weaknesses. Even a 1942 eugenicist warned that eliminating bipolar disorder would produce a population of mediocrities, capable of pushing but not leaping.