Inequality, Democracy and the New Human Biotechnologies
By Richard Hayes
| 07. 15. 2004
Presentation at Inequality, Democracy and the New Human Biotechnologies: A Threshold Challenge for the 21st Century, New York, NY [PDF Version]
The new technologies of human genetic modification are among
the two or three most profoundly consequential technologies
of the 21st century. They have the potential for both great
good and great harm. They are being developed at an extraordinary
pace. There is little public oversight and control of their
development and use.
If these technologies are developed and used in the prevailing
context of free-market competition and individualist social
values, they could greatly exacerbate existing inequalities
in health and social power, and existing modes of discrimination
and exploitation. In addition, certain applications of these
technologies could open the door to a new high-tech eugenics
that would undermine the foundations of democratic civil society.
The dynamics of inequality, democracy and the new human biotechnologies
works the other way as well: at this moment, inequalities of
power and influence are themselves subverting democratic decision-making
concerning the development and use of the new human biotechnologies.
Surveys show that Americans are...
Related Articles
By Emily Glazer, Katherine Long, Amy Dockser Marcus, The Wall Street Journal | 11.08.2025
For months, a small company in San Francisco has been pursuing a secretive project: the birth of a genetically engineered baby.
Backed by OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman and his husband, along with Coinbase co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong, the startup—called...
By Robyn Vinter, The Guardian | 11.09.2025
A man going by the name “Rod Kissme” claims to have “very strong sperm”. It may seem like an eccentric boast for a Facebook profile page, but then this is no mundane corner of the internet. The group where Rod...
By Nahlah Ayed, CBC Listen | 10.22.2025
Egg freezing is one of today’s fastest-growing reproductive technologies. It's seen as a kind of 'fertility insurance' for the future, but that doesn’t address today’s deeper feelings of uncertainty around parenthood, heterosexual relationships, and the reproductive path forward. In this...
By Emily Mullin, Wired | 10.30.2025
In 2018, Chinese scientist He Jiankui shocked the world when he revealed that he had created the first gene-edited babies. Using Crispr, he tweaked the genes of three human embryos in an attempt to make them immune to HIV and...
