Gene Therapy and Genetic Engineering

BlindnessMental RetardationDiabetes

AlcoholismObesityCriminal Deviancy

UglyUncoordinatedUncreative and Dull

The “Normal” Human

Glannon: There is a “normal”level of human health, an “adequate baseline” (238).

Gene Therapy: Intervention that raises someone who falls well below the critical level to within range of the critical level.

Genetic Enhancement: Intervention that raises someone above the

Genetic Enhancement and Justice“The main moral concern about genetic enhancement of physical and mental traits is that it would give some people an unfair advantage over others with respect to competitive goods like beauty, sociability, and intelligence” (240).

Harris: “What constitutes a normal healthy life is determined in part by technological and medical and other advances…[so] would it be permissible to let people continue suffering…when they could be protected against it?” (244)

DisabilityWhat is a “disability?”

Should we prefer to have non-disabled children, and should we “be discouraged from reproducing children who will be significantly harmed by their genetic constitution”? (Harris 245)

Is this the same as valuing abled and genetically strong people more than disabled and genetically weak people?

Curing Dysfunction vs. Enhancing Function“The question we must address is whether it would be wrong to fail to protect individuals in ways like these [i.e. alter their genes to provide immunity from AIDS, Hep. B, Malaria, aging, shortness, etc. ] which would effectively enhance their function rather than cure dysfunction….To answer this question, we need to know whether to fail to protect individuals whom we could protect in this way would constitute a harm to them” (245)