Human enhancement methods of prenatal screening, embryo selection, and genetic engineering are currently in the limelight, but there are debates over their ethical and societal implications. This paper aims to explore past human enhancement attempts and their parallels to modern treatments to determine possible societal impacts and applications of latest treatments. To do so, this paper focuses on the earliest known inception of human enhancement advocated for by Plato and charts its evolution through history to analyze how groups in power manipulated medicine and scientific theory to harm and marginalize specific groups.
Throughout the course of history, humans have attempted to enhance the race by preserving desirable traits and ameliorating or removing undesirable ones. However, because categorization of these undesirable traits and thus, individuals, was unclear, discriminatory beliefs, not science, caused marginalized groups such as Jews, African Americans, immigrants, and people with disabilities to undergo inhumane practices like coerced sterilizations and genocides. In the present day, advancements in technology have brought novel scientific human enhancement methods such as prenatal screening, embryo selection, and genetic engineering. Still, even these modern methods can be misused to harm patients and others considered undesirable.
Studying the historical evolution of eugenics and its parallels to modern treatments may help us prevent misuse of medicine in the latest human enhancement measures and provide guidelines to reach a social consensus in the applications of emerging technologies.
Human enhancement is a broad term that involves any improvements in the “limitations” of the natural human race (Almeida & Diogo, 2019, p. 184). From Plato to the modern day, many attempts have been made to preserve desirable traits and ameliorate these limitations. These human enhancement measures have harmed marginalized communities because categorizations, guidelines, and enforcements were and are often made by groups in power to justify non-scientific, societal issues.
In recent years, novel human enhancement methods of prenatal screening, embryo selection, and genetic engineering have been developed. Prenatal screening and embryo selection mainly help prevent or prepare for genetic diseases by sorting out chromosomally abnormal embryos, and genetic engineering allows editing, removal, or insertion of genes to treat genetic diseases (Park, 2018; Tamura & Toda, 2020). They are of great interest to the scientific community due to seemingly-benign goals of improving patient health and life quality, but varying opinions over their possible negative societal implications have proven the need for extensive debates and careful consideration of past human enhancement attempts.
This post aims to provide a historical overview of human enhancements and their societal impacts to explore parallels between past and present methods. Such exploration will help determine the best ways to reach a social consensus in applying emerging technologies and prevent future misuse of medicine.