Eugenics Revisited: Author Asks if We're Ready for Genetically Modified Humans

If you think the argument over the benefits and risks of genetically modified foods is confusing and contentious, just wait until the debate over genetically modified people gets into full swing. All the elements are there: the potential to do great good through the eradication of disease and great harm through accidental or weaponized genetic destruction, not to mention the morally gray areas of so-called “designer babies” and corporate control over life-enhancing technologies.

The technology is almost here, and thinking ahead for us are authors like Paul Knoepfler, whose book GMO Sapiens: The Life-Changing Science of Designer Babies, an INDIEFAB finalist, tackles these tough issues and more. I was curious about what to expect from the next contentious public debate over science. So, I asked him.

Eugenics is forever associated with the ugly stain of Nazism and the forced sterilization of thousands in the United States. How can the idea of genetic modification of humans ever come back from that?

In researching and writing my book, I came across a wide range of opinions about human genetic...