Future Eugenics Research Paper

Future Eugenics The topic I choose to cover for the Future of Eugenics is Pre-Implantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD). PGD is and will be used in the future of Eugenics to create almost the “fittest” or perfect baby before they are even born. The structure of DNA was discovered in the 1950s, and since then several of genes has been identified as well as genetic disorders, which lead us to PGD. “Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis is a technique used to identify genetic defects in embryos created through in vitro fertilization (IVF) before pregnancy” (Dayal 1). The creation of PGD was developed first by Edwards and Gardner, who successfully performed the first known embryo on rabbit embryos in 1968 (Dayal 1). “In Humans, PGD was developed
“Eugenic indication became especially significant once prenatal diagnosis technologies were refined” (Bashford 546). PGD helps Eugenics reach a disease-free society, which is desirable for all. This assures Eugenicists in getting rid of the “feebleminded” or “unfit” population. Ruth Schwartz Cowan found the history of fetal sex identification through amniocentesis and its use by Danish researchers to sex-linked hemophilia in 1959 (Bashford 546). “This new knowledge could be “applied” because of the preexisting eugenic indication for legal abortion: the Danish 1938 eugenic law permitted abortion if there was a risk that the child would be born with “severe and non-curable abnormality of physical disease. Where eugenic abortion laws were not available, the imperative to terminate pregnancy, in light of the new diagnostic capacity, drove abortion’s legalization, as much as did women’s arguments for reproductive choice” (Bashford 546). This clearly states how well PGD is connected to eugenics in allowing women to choose the type of child they “ideally” want and to terminate the children born with genetic disorders. Conversely, PGD is seen as wrong to others because of religious points of view that life starts at conception. “Able-bodied people tend to underestimate the quality of life of disabled people. The majority do not wish that they had never been born, they and their families value their
PGD is just one technique that is a future eugenic indication. The first intention of PGD was solely to be used to prevent genetic disorders. “PGD holds great promise for the future as techniques and genetic tests are perfected, and it may become routine in the next few years”(Lavy 12). PGD is reliable procedure in preventing the birth of affected children (Lavy 13). “PGD of aneuploidy is effective and results in a high take home baby rate when implemented in certain categories or patients and despite the efficiency of PGD technique, conventional prenatal diagnosis is still required by most PGD laboratories” (Lavy 13). Today, PGD is currently used by some to pick the sex of the child and also offered is the chance to increase the odds for getting specific traits as in eye color, hair color, etc. “As preimplantation screening for medical disorders at the embryonic level optimizes, its place in medicine and society will continue to generate controversy and ethical debate” (Dayal 5). Overall, PGD has become a huge milestone in eugenics and assisted reproductive