hacking darwin genetic engineering and the future of humanity

Society will be forced to confront some awkward ethical questions as we begin to utilize these assisted reproduction tools en masse.

As our knowledge of genetics grows in the proceeding decades, parents will begin screening embryos for more complex and controversial genetic traits like height, intelligence and physical strength. But by roughly 2045, Metzl argues, many more parents will skip sexual reproduction and opt to screen their embryos for these genetic conditions, motivated by lower costs and the prospect of disease-free children. Since 1978, over 8 million people have been conceived with in-vitro fertilization, and parents can already screen embryos for single-gene disorders–including cystic fibrosis, Huntington’s disease, Tay-Sachs and sickle-cell anemia– caused by mutations in the DNA sequence of a specific gene. This isn’t just a hypothetical scenario out of a science fiction novel this will be our world beginning in the next three decades, according to science writer Jamie Metzl, author of the new book Hacking Darwin: Genetic Engineering and the Future of Humanity. People would still have sex for all the other reasons we do now, but these next-generation assisted reproduction tools would revolutionize health care and possibly change the future of human evolution. Imagine a world in which would-be parents no longer have sex but conceive children with the assistance of embryo selection and in-vitro fertilization, (IVF) choosing genetic traits to make their children smarter, stronger and healthier than sexual reproduction would otherwise allow. Is the Genetic Literacy Project a corporate ‘front’? GLP responds to ongoing false allegations from US Right to Know / Organic Consumers Association / SourceWatch / Baum Hedlund / Church of Scientology.GLP Integrity Policies: Privacy, Conflicts of Interest, Verification, Fact-Checking Standards and Corrections.

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Hacking darwin genetic engineering and the future of humanity