Some ethical issues at the population level raised by 'soft' eugenics, euphenics, and isogenics.
It is argued that at the population level there are three central genetic developments raising ethical issues. The first is the emergence of 'soft' eugenics, due primarily to the increasing ability to detect carriers of genetic diseases, to monitor their pregnancies, and to provide the option to abort a fetus predisposed to major genetic disease. The second development is the recognition of the extent to which many serious diseases of adult life are due to a disturbance of ancient genetic homeostatic mechanisms due to changing life style, raising the question of whether a society that increasingly pays the medical bills should attempt to impose healthier standards of living on its members. Such an attempt at 'euphenics' may be thought of as the antithesis to eugenics. The third development relates to recognition of the need to regulate the size of the earth's population to numbers that can be indefinitely sustained; this regulation in a fashion (isogenic) that will preserve existing genetic diversity.
Neel
J V
JV
Department of Human Genetics, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-0618, USA. cgaffney@umich.edu
D001675:Bioethics; D005053:Eugenics; D005817:Genetic Counseling; D005823:Genetics; D006801:Humans; D011158:Population Growth