National security

Genetic Arms Race: A Threat to Human Dignity – And National Security?

A new genetic technology is being called a weapon of mass destruction. I’ll tell you why that may not be hyperbole.

In late July, the MIT Technology Review published news many of us have been dreading: A team of scientists at Oregon Health and Sciences University have successfully created genetically-modified human embryos.

This is an early step, to borrow a headline from the Technology Review, toward “engineering the perfect baby.” It’s an early step in creating a parental arms race in which people with resources scramble to create their vision of the “perfect baby,” with, potentially, the eye color, intelligence, and other traits they desire.