...Several of these ideas of separation are found in the eugenics movement. Eugenics is the science of improving mankind by discouraging those with weak genes from having children and encouraging those deemed superior. This discouragement overall was not intended as a punishment for the weak, but it was designed to alleviate them the hardship of having to bring up children which they couldn’t support. ("Eugenics: Did the Eugenics Movement Benefit the United States?" 19). Eugenics started with Sir Francis Galton; he was a scientist in the U.K. studying hereditary patterns in people when he developed the early ideas of eugenics and the word itself. The movement started in 1904 (with Galton’s coining of the word) and became popular rapidly due to the fleeting imperial ideas that...
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...During the eugenic movement there were internal concerns about criminals, insane, feeble mindedness, alcoholics, paupers, derelicts, delinquents, orphans, prostitutes and those unable to support themselves. These traits were considered to be hereditary defects that cannot be eliminated by environmental procedures. Many studies supported and illustrated the use of sterilisation as negative eugenics such as the Juke family published in 1875 and the Kallikak family in 1912 where one or more members of the family were considered to be unfit. In 1907 Indiana was the first state to pass involuntary- sterilisation based on the eugenic ideologies of the unfit. By 1931, 30 states had passed this law. As the concept of the “unfit” was subjective and...
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...By definiton, eugenics is "the science of improving a human population by controlled breeding to increase the occurrence of desirable heritable characteristics." Miriam Webster dictionary. Eugenics came to exist back in Nazi Germany and was majorly developed by one Francis Galton. The idea was to create a "superior race" known as the Aryan race. The Aryan race had very set specifications, blonde hair, blue eyes and fair skin. During that time, eugenics was mainly achived by selective breeding, meaning that individuals would reproduce with other individuals who fufilled the Aryan requirements. Today, in the 21st century, eugenics is more scientific. In 2003, scientists finished mapping out the human genome- a blueprint for the human race. The practice was first introduced to the USA in 2009 at a fertility clinic in Los Angeles, California. The clinic tried to offer hair and eye colour choices to prospective parents. This attempt caused a lot of public back lash. The process takes place by collecting eggs from the mother which are then fertilized in vitro with the father's sperm. After a successful fertilization, many genetic tests, called pre-implantion genetic diagnosis or PGD, are run to determine if the embryo has any defects such as down syndrome, heart issues, spina bifada, deafness and blindness. If the embryos pass this stage, they go into more indepth and specific tests. The parents set out a list of desirable and undesirable characteristics such as hair colour, eye colour...
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...Hassan 1 Hussein Hassan Mr. Horn AP Seminar February 2 2015 The Perfect Human: The Flaws in Modern Eugenics With global technologies rapidly advancing, specifically those based in the field of genetics, one might wonder where humanity is headed in terms of their offspring. The answer? Modern eugenics. Francis Galton's eugenics, centered around forced sterilization and selective breeding to eliminate undesirable traits and foster the spread of more advantageous ones (Galton), is dead. However, the idea of focusing on one’s inherited genes to eliminate passed down diseases is alive and well, albeit in a more “modern” fashion. Is modern eugenics the right way of the future for humanity? To what extent should modern eugenics be viable? Before ambitious genetic projects had begun, such as the Human Genome Project which mapped out the entirety of the human genome (Genome.gov), the only way to tamper with an individual’s genes was through their parents. Gregor Mendel earned the moniker “The Father of Genetics” because of his experiments involving the breeding of plants in the mid 19th century (Biography.com). However, modern eugenics focuses on the genes of child more than the parents through abortions and the genetic altering of the embryo to achieve the desired results. This can be achieved through a process called genetic screening, which observes an embryo’s chromosomes for any lapses or breaks (Galloway a). Embryo’s that show signs of a genetic disorders...
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...Eugenics and Beneficence Eugenics and Beneficence On October 27, 2014, the North Carolina state legislature became the first in the country to officially begin compensating citizens and their families who were subjected the state’s forced sterilization program. Ninety years after the legalization of forced sterilization in the United States and forty-one years after the first lawsuit was brought by sterilized North Carolinian Nial Ramirez, it would seem as though the country is now ready to do penance in financial terms for its past actions via reparations to Mrs. Ramirez and others. (Burns, 2014) The purpose of this paper is to examine the concept of eugenics, specifically to view it through lens of beneficence, to try and view the issue from the points of view of all involved, and finally to explore some future implications about the nature of beneficence from this episode in the history of American health-care. Eugenics is the study of ways to influence (usually to improve) a population by selective breeding. ("Mosby’s Dictionary," 2009) The idea of influencing the quality of animal populations has existed since the beginning of domestication by humans, but the idea of subjecting the human race to systematic selective breeding is a more recent phenomenon. Western thought about the nature of living creatures until the 19th century had been shaped by Judeo-Christian traditions in which a creator god made and sustained all the diversity of life, and further had created...
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...worked both separately and together to get women the right to vote, be recognized as persons, and to be able to have positions in the senate. Along their road to success, these two women also, in some people’s views, faltered. They both supported the sterilization act in Alberta, and Emily Murphy was particularly racist. These two women have achieved amazing things for Canadian workingwomen, as well as Canadian women and the law; but did they do more harm than good? More specifically, does their work in favor of women’s rights, and women becoming recognized “persons”, make up for their love of eugenics and the many lives they ruined sue to their beliefs that people of different races and with different mentalities were not suitable for parenthood? This paper will explore both sides of their work, looking at the persons case, women becoming involved in the senate, as well as the eugenics and sterilization that they supported. These two women were not solely good or bad, they were good with some poor decisions along the way, “although their vision, like our own, was sometimes faulty and incomplete, it also embodied an uncommon personal politics of courage and optimism…Feminists don’t have to be perfect to be worth a respectful hearing.” (Strong-Boag). Nellie McClung is a feminist hero of Canada, “her zest, and her convictions, her campaigns helped shape the Canada we live in today.” (Gray, 5). She was a popular novelist, and she helped improve the conditions of working women. She...
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...and the eventual baby. The idea is technically called the liberal eugenics. Genetic engineering was incorporated in certain species of plants to modify crop yields and improve resistance to certain crop diseases. The scientists inserted a given gene into plasmid bacteria to ensure that the plant cell assumed the new DNA. The technology has allowed many plant species to thrive in harsh conditions, including cold, hot, and effectively resist pests. There are different edible foods, which have been designed through the technology. The last century has recorded discoveries that have involved immense benefits on human lives. The findings involve the use of genes, which refer to the reason behind the different characteristics and features among different humans. However, the new technology involves knowledge, which facilitates an alteration of the human characteristics. Humans have benefited from the technology of designer babies by elimination of the harmful genes as experienced in 2001 in Los Angeles. Contrarily, religion nd the society continue to question the social and moral well-being of creating a child with the traits that the parents desire. The opponents of the technology argue that genetic technology is uncertain and contradicts the perfect nature of god. Despite the moral and social issues of designer babies, the technology is valuable in ensuring a peaceful and healthy society. The history of eugenics dates back to the 12000 BC when humans recorded the first genetic...
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...personalized. In this paper I will be explaining how modern genetic technology may lead to personalized medicine; discussing the benefits of personalized medicine; and discussing the drawbacks and limitations of personalized medicine. Explanation of how modern genetic technology may lead to personalized medicine. In order to understand how modern genetic technology may lead to personalized medicine, we need to first understand what personalized medicine is. Personalized medicine is the ability to determine an individual’s unique molecular characteristics and to use those genetic distinctions to diagnose more finely individual’s disease, select treatments that increase the chances of a successful outcome and reduce possible adverse reactions. Personalized medicine is also the ability to predict an individual’s susceptibility to diseases and thus to try to shape steps that may help to avoid or reduce the extent to which an individual will experience a disease. With that being said, the advancement in technology has made it possible for doctors and geneticists use a person’s DNA to find out what kinds of diseases are in their future; thus making it possible for them to make a stepping stone to prevent them. “The completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003 opened the door for better understanding of genetic components of disease that will shape the future practice of medicine. The Human Genome Project detailed the map of our DNA sequence allowing researchers to develop tools to...
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...Walter Glannon: Genes, Embryos, and Future People Bioethics, 02699702, Jul98, Vol. 12, Issue 3 ABSTRACT: Testing embryonic cells for genetic abnormalities gives us the capacity to predict whether and to what extent people will exist with disease and disability. Moreover, the freezing of embryos for long periods of time enables us to alter the length of a normal human lifespan. After highlighting the shortcomings of somatic-cell gene therapy and germ-line genetic alteration, I argue that the testing and selective termination of genetically defective embryos is the only medically and morally defensible way to prevent the existence of people with severe disability, pain and suffering that make their lives not worth living for them on the whole. In addition, I consider the possible harmful effects on children born from frozen embryos after the deaths of their biological parents, or when their parents are at an advanced age. I also explore whether embryos have moral status and whether the prospects for disease-preventing genetic alteration can justify long-term cryopreservation of embryos. INTRODUCTION Recent advances in reproductive biotechnology have given us the ability to intervene in the process of human biological development from embryos to people. One type of intervention is the testing of embryos for genetic defects that cause disease, which enables us to choose between allowing these embryos to result in disabled people or selectively terminating...
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...today’s world DNA sequences are frequently and constantly improving, modern instruments can analyze DNA by the millions within a twenty-four hour period (Mader, 2010, P.178). Because of technology, these instruments have been made available now and in the future for the use of personalized medicinal products. This paper provides an overview of how modern genetic technology may lead to personalized medicine, and to give examples two or more specific benefits of personalized medicine: a discussion of its drawbacks and limitations of the approach to human medicine. “Modern Genetic Technology and Personalized Medicine” Modern technology is constantly growing in our world, for us to understand how modern genetic technology may lead to personalized medicine and the importance personalized medicine. Personalized medicine is the tailoring of medical treatment for an individual with the unique characteristics for each patient. This approach is a scientific breakthrough for us to understand how a person’s unique molecular and genetic profile makes them susceptible to certain diseases. This same research is increasing our ability to predict and recognize which medical treatments will be safe and effective for each patient (Consumer Health, 2007). The Human Genome project of 2003, enlighten our understanding of the genetic component of disease that...
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...controlling the physical and or psychological features of a child. There are a couple of reasons why creating a designer baby can be beneficial health wise that some people may see it as being ethical but others sees it as unethical because couples are looking into designing their baby for physical traits more than health reason. Technology now a day’s make it possible to detect genetic disorders such as Down syndrome and Turner’s syndrome or many more. If the embryo is positive for a disorder the parents have the option to abort it. Another benefit by using this research it can get rid of all genetically transferred diseases leading to a future healthier population. Choosing donor physical and psychological traits essentially means that hopeful parents can buy a baby of their choice, picking everything from hair and eye color to skin color, height, and race. The so-called designer babies that come from such deliberate selection could in the future be created in a laboratory, as scientists understand enough about the human genetic code to possibly alter embryonic DNA for parents who want their babies to look and possibly act a certain way. The ethics of designer babies is questionable for several reasons. On the one hand, by removing random selection from the reproductive process the parents-to-become dangerously close to practicing eugenics: a form of "demographic control" usually associated with racism. On the other hand, the ability to create designer babies could be used to...
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...Human Genome Project, conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy and the Department of Health and Human Services, undertook the task of mapping all human genes their chromosomes (Morse, 1998). This project contributed greatly to the potential for GE in humans, but in fact GE has already been used in agriculture. However, some biologists point out that we call “genetic engineering” has been accomplished for centuries via cross-breeding, and that GE is just a new way of accomplishing something already done in the past (Fricker, 2002). The risk with GE is that genes can be combined in ways never before possible, and with possibly unpredictable results. For a decade, we have had the capability to insert alien genes into target cells, thus changing the organism. This can be done with cells taken from a patient. After altering, they can be returned to the patient to achieve some medical goal (Anderson, 1990). The concern with GE is that it can have both anticipated and unanticipated effects (Fricker, 2002). Because of this, we should proceed cautiously and carefully, with many safeguards in place. Genetic engineering is largely uncharted territory and only hubris would allow us to assume that we can see all possible pitfalls. As Potera (2004) points out, gene manipulation is “like driving a car"--safe driving relies as much on braking as on accelerating.” However, it is noted that many view the benefit as outweighing the risks involved, while others argue that we can’t always know all...
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...registry and notification laws are controversial and proponents of these laws feel they act as deterrents to future offending even though there is no evidence to support this claim. In many cases recidivism has decreased with the proper assessment and treatment. Our country has an overzealous sex crime legislation dating back to the 1880s. In the United States there are three types of legislation dealing with sex crimes. The first was pre-World War II when offenders were subjected to indefinite institutionalization and sterilization. These policies were jointly influenced by the fields of sexology and eugenics (Ordover, 2003). Sexologists promoted the view that minor forms of sexual misbehavior would predict future sexual violence and homicide (Jenkins, 1998), whereas eugenicists promoted the view that criminal behavior was genetically determined (Ordover, 2003). Both of these fields developed the view that sexual offending was considered intractable, resistant to change and escalating, therefore, new legislation was established to enact extreme interventions by institutionalization offenders. In order to keep society safe from future exposure and danger from an offender’s offspring thus forced sterilization (Letourneau, 2013). This method has large economic costs to our government in funding for the physical care and procedure costs, which outweigh the benefits for this treatment. The offender and his family had to endure his physical and mental costs from the sterilization...
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...Chapter 1: Ethical Theory Meta-ethical positions include: * Ethical non-cognitivism (concept that ethics is a matter of feelings) * Ethical relativism (concept that ethics is relative to a particular point of view) * Ethical objectivism (notion that ethics is objective in nature). Meta-Ethical Positions Ethical Non-cognitivism The basis of ethical non-cognitivism is that ethical disagreement can be a highly emotional affair where no amount of reasoning is likely to convince the other party. * Example: “Let’s just agree to disagree” Ethical Relativism * Ethical relativism says that while ethical statements are cognitively meaningful, they do not hold in any objective sense because they depend on our point of view. * If we accept ethical relativism, then ethical disagreement among people who do not share the same perspective becomes impossible. * It assumes that if people agree on something, then it must be true. * Ethical relativism is suspect for a pragmatic reason: it is fundamentally at variance with our social practice. * Example: “To each his own”, or the belief that what’s right for one group isn’t necessarily right for another Ethical Objectivism * Ethical objectivism holds that right and wrong are objective phenomena. * Example: “I’m right and you’re wrong” What is Ethics? * As a discipline, ethics is a branch of philosophy. * It deals with questions of right and wrong conduct, and with what we ought to do and what...
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...Sterilization of pregnant HIV women in Orosia This is a case of forced sterilization that takes place in the fictional state of Orosia, and the victim is the women called A.A. Forced sterilization can be defined as government policies which attempt to force people to undergo surgical sterilization, usually as part of eugenics programs intended to prevent the reproduction and multiplication of members of the population. It was recognized as a war crime at Nuremberg Process, developed between 1945 and 1946 on the initiative of the victorious Allied Nations at the end of World War II, in which were determined and sanctioned the responsibilities of directors, officers and employees of Adolf Hitler. It has been also recognized as a crime against humanity by the Rome Statute in the Explanatory Memorandum. This practice, also known as compulsory sterilization, has been usual during 20th century in several countries like Germany, USA, Japan, Russia, China, South Africa, India… But it is also happening in the 21th century, specifically in Uzbekistan. The Republic of Orosia became a member of the Council of Europe and ratified the European Convention on Human Rights in 1995. To be a valid procedure, it had to be carried out according to art.59 of ECHR. Firstly we have to notice that in this case there is a complaint from an individual against a state. This is possible because it is referred to in art.34 ECHR: “The Court may receive applications from any person, non-governmental...
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