About a week ago The New York Times ran a very interesting article about new gene editing techniques that some are concerned would be used to enhance intelligence or beauty, creating genetically improved individuals:
A group of leading biologists on Thursday called for a
worldwide moratorium on use of a new genome-editing technique that would alter
human DNA in a way that can be inherited. The biologists fear that the new technique is so effective
and easy to use that some physicians may push ahead before its safety can be
assessed. They also want the public to understand the ethical issues
surrounding the technique, which could be used to cure genetic diseases, but
also to enhance qualities like beauty or intelligence. The latter is a path
that many ethicists believe should never be taken. “You could exert control over human heredity with this
technique, and that is why we are raising the issue,” said David Baltimore, a
former president of the California Institute of Technology and a member of the
group whose paper
on the topic was published in the journal Science.