Individuality and equality are what our society has always been based upon. Individual rights and freedoms are the foundation of our Bill of Rights laid out hundreds of years ago. When writing this, our founding fathers could not have predicted that genetic engineering would develop and jeopardize people’s individual rights before they are even born. This doctrine was set in place with the belief that every individual has a place in society and the rights to make their own life. As Dr. Michael W. Fox, former vice president of Humane Society International, said, “Every creature has its own reason to be. All its parts have a direct effect on one another, a relationship to one another, thereby constantly renewing the circle of life”.[1] Not only could genetic engineering take away individuality, it could widen the social gap between the ‘improved’ and the ‘unimproved‘. Maxwell J. Mehlman, professor of law at Case Western University School of Law, stated that, “The social and political consequences [of genetic engineering] could be grave. We could become a society of vast inequality. If genetic enhancement reaches anything like its full potential, the enhanced… will enjoy decisive advantages over everyone else in all realms of life”.[2] Also, choosing all of a child’s features turns that child into a commodity. The characteristics a person possesses are what make them unique. Knowing that their parents selected their traits based on certain ideals and desires could cause a massive amount of unrest in the lives of those ‘improved’. A feeling of inadequacy caused by the knowledge that they were modified could emotionally devastate these individuals.
[1] Fox, Dr. Michael W. Beyond Evolution: The Genetically Altered Future of Plants, Animals, the Earth… and Humans. New York: Lyons Press, 1999. Print
[2] Mehlman, Maxwell J. “Wondergenes: Genetic Enhancement and the Future of Society.” Genetic Engineering. Ed. James D. Torr. Farmington Hills: Thomson Gale, 2006. 60-68. Print.
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