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Muscles strong enough to flip over a tank. Eyes that see the night as clear as day. Perfect photographic memory. These sorts of human enhancements are found in video games like Halo 3 and other science fiction media. It seems that an average human of today will not be enough for the future.
The demand for human enhancement is widely present. Professional sports leagues allow certain drugs like caffeine to be used. Sports players are often caught abusing steroids to gain an edge over the other players and their stories become fodder for mass media. Women use plastic surgery to enhance their physical features. But what of the future?
But first, a short history lesson is in order. In November 1972, Herbert Boyer and Stanley Cohen began collaborating to insert foreign DNA into a bacterium so that it would produce human substances like insulin and HGH. They successfully did so. And in doing so, they invented genetic engineering ("Biotech pioneers").
Fast-forward to the present. Scientists have begun experimenting with genetically modified foods and animals in hopes of creating a more genetically flawless organism. As they continue adding knowledge to genetic engineering whether in pursuit of personal or public benefit, genetic engineering will soon allow for 'designer babies'. With advances in genetic engineering, parents will soon be able to design their babies like fashion designers design clothes.
The transhumanist movement of enhancing genetic makeup seems reasonable, with humanity's diseases like cancer and AIDS and disorders like mental retardation and social anxiety disorder. With genetic enhancements, diseases will become the material of history textbooks and But according to Francis Fukuyama, transhumanism might not b...
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... any rate, the majority of the debate remains presumptuous: people will never know until they try.
Works Cited
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"Biotech pioneers win Lemelson-MIT Prize." MIT. MIT, 24 Apr. 1996. Web. 02 Dec. 2009.
Fukuyama, Francis. "The World's Most Dangerous Ideas." Foreign Policy 2004: 42-43. Mywire. Mywire, 1 Sept. 2004. Web. 30 Nov. 2009.
Sandel, Michael J. The Case against Perfection Ethics in the Age of Genetic Engineering. New York: Belknap, 2007. Print.
Savulescu, Julian. The Oxford Handbook of Bioethics (Oxford Handbooks). Ed. Bonnie Steinbock. New York: Oxford UP, USA, 2007. Practical Ethics Resources. Oxford Uehiro, 2006. 516-535. Web. 30 Nov. 2009.
Stock, Gregory. Redesigning Humans Our Inevitable Genetic Future. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2002. Print.
Catalano, Michael. "The Prospect of Designer Babies: Is It Inevitable?" The People, Ideas, and Things (PIT) Journal. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 May 2014.
Smith, Wesley J. "The Trouble with Transhumanism." The Center for Bioethics and Culture RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2014.
Most people agree, in general, that designer babies are taking over and it is it’s a good thing. A designer baby is a human embryo that parents set , to produce desirable traits. According to Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection , Fertility Institutes in Los Angeles offered to let parents select their children’s hair and eye color. Crazy to think you’d be able to build your own baby. The process of creating this designer baby would be embryos modified to predetermine intellect , physical prowess , and beauty. People may question designer babies but “if you think women have the right to control their bodies , then they should be able to make this choice” right? (Citation?) There is a lot of science into creating a designer baby.
Sandel explores the immoral nature of genetic enhancements through their potential use in athletics, creating “Bionic Athletes.” The world admires athletes for their expression of great skill in their resp...
In recent years, great advancement has been made in medicine and technology. Advanced technologies in reproduction have allowed doctors and parents the ability to screen for genetic disorders (Suter, 2007). Through preimplantation genetic diagnosis, prospective parents undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) can now have their embryo tested for genetic defects and reduce the chance of the child being born with a genetic disorder (Suter, 2007). This type of technology can open the door and possibility to enhance desirable traits and characteristics in their child. Parents can possibly choose the sex, hair color and eyes or stature. This possibility of selecting desirable traits opens a new world of possible designer babies (Mahoney,
Seven-foot, blonde haired, blue-eyed super-humans bearing the swastika and marching in perfect Aryan rhythm, bred to be smarter, stronger, superior. This is a typical image when people hear the word eugenics, but there are two distinct branches: negative eugenics, which looks at removing undesirables and degenerates from society, and positive eugenics, which looks to promote the positive hereditary traits within society. In this essay I will Look at both sides of the eugenics argument in order to find a conclusion.
World Transhumanist Association. "Genetic Enhancement Can Improve Humanity."Genetic Engineering. Ed. James D. Torr. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2006. Current Controversies. Rpt. from "The Transhumanism FAQ." 2003. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 10 Apr. 2012.
...ernational Journal Of Applied Philosophy 21.1 (2007): 1-24. Academic Search Complete. Web. 4 Feb. 2014.
Steinbock, Bonnie, Alex J. London, and John D. Arras. "The Principles Approach." Ethical Issues in Modern Medicine. Contemporary Readings in Bioethics. 8th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2013. 36-37. Print.
Using science to modify humans, and better ourselves is becoming more of a reality every year. The term transhumanism can be defined as, a method to increase human’s physical and mental capacities using science (Koch, pg 686). It’s an idea that has been around for as long as humans. Humans will always strive to better themselves, and with new advances in technology and bioengineering this becomes more of a reality. The best examples are simple technologies like pacemakers, or prosthetics. They help people to live better. There are certainly more transhumanist technologies that will be developed to help the human race. However, there are many ethical issues related to transhumanism as well. Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment is a piece of literature written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. It
The evolution of technology has been hand in hand with the human subjugation of earth, but the question persists, when does the use of technology go too far? Advances in medical science have increased the average human lifespan and improved the quality of life for individuals. Medical science and biology are steadily arriving at new ways to alter humans by the use of advanced genetic alteration. This technology gives rise to the question of how this new technology ought to be used, if at all. The idea of human enhancement is a very general topic, since humans are constantly “enhancing” themselves through the use of tools. In referring to human enhancement, I am referring specifically to the use of genetic intervention prior to birth. Julian Savulescu, in his, “Genetic Interventions and the Ethics of Enhancement of Human Beings,” argues that it is not only permissible to intervene genetically, but is a morally obligatory. In this paper, I will argue that it is not morally obligatory to intervene genetically even if such intervention may be permissible under certain criteria. I will show, in contrast to Savulescu’s view, that the moral obligation to intervene is not the same as the moral obligation to prevent and treat disease. In short, I will show that the ability of humans to intervene genetically is not sufficient to establish a moral obligation.
Genetic enhancement refers to the use of genetic engineering to modify a human’s traits in a way that will benefit them. Although genetic enhancement is capable of providing numerous benefits to the human species, there are a number of concerns that make it a highly debatable topic. While there are some valid claims against genetic enhancement in humans, the benefits outweigh the concerns. As these points are further explored, it will become obvious that human genetic enhancement provides many valuable improvements to human society as a whole and thus should be further researched.
20 Feb. 2014. Nardo, Don. A. Biomedical Ethics.
What does it mean to be human? Sure, one must have the usual physical features such as fingers, eyes, arms, hands, feet, etc., but what does it really mean? Must the human be able to speak? To take upon the actions of themselves? Whatever it means, it can be interpreted in any way from anyone. The physical attributes of any human can be compared to those of our evolutionary ancestors. However, it is possible to believe that there are many characteristics that make a human, but only six define the true, ideal human.
Human enhancement is any attempt to temporarily or permanently overcome the current limitations of the human body through natural or artificial means. It is in our human nature that we somehow increase our life expectancy, become stronger, fearless, independent and smarter. It is no surprise we turn to all sorts of technologies – neurotechnology, nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology – to improve human performances. While they might improve our performances and abilities, their use raises serious health, ethical and economic issues, furthermore, not enough is known about the long-term consequences.