Commercialisation and the Moral Obligation to Create 'Designer' Babies
By John Galloway,
BioNews
| 12. 08. 2014
Untitled Document
Although the word was not actually used (or at least I did not hear it), this was a polemic making the case for 'eugenics'. That is, the improvement, even 'perfection' perhaps, of humanity by actively intervening in its inherited biology.
In its pursuit, Professor Julian Savulescu, presenting the first session of the Progress Educational Trust's 2014 annual conference, The Commercialisation of Life, made a good case for parents being given more of a choice in the attributes of their children. After all, what's not to like in the idea of preventing inherited genetic diseases? Preventing diseases is what public health is all about, isn't it?
Read more...
Related Articles
By Judd Boaz and Elise Kinsella, ABC News | 03.17.2026
By Ryan Cross, Endpoints News | 03.24.2026
Cathy Tie has an audacity more typical of a tech startup founder than a biotech executive. She dropped out of college to start a genetic screening company and later founded a telemedicine startup. The 29-year-old has been on two Forbes...
By Gabriele Pichlhofer and Tino Plümecke, Guest Contributors
| 03.25.2026
A German translation of this interview will be published in May 2026 in the German GID MAGAZIN, which focuses on the market for reproductive technologies. For more information, visit: Gen-ethisches Netzwerk
Egg donation is currently prohibited in Germany and Switzerland, but both countries have been debating its legalization for years. In Switzerland, a legal framework is currently being developed, with a first draft expected by the end of the year. Yet the debate rarely draws on scientific evidence. Instead...
By Paula Siverino Bavio, BioNews | 03.16.2026
State flag of Peru via Wikimedia Commons licensed under CC by SA 2.0
A recent surrogacy case in Peru had a good outcome for one family, but does not provide wider certainty for families, surrogates or clinicians, writes Dr Paula...