Genetics and Morality

The moral issues surrounding the development of genetics are considered. In the history of genetics DNA has held a special place as the “building block of life” since its structure was first published (1953). In addition to the fact that DNA makes a person human, it is widely believed that it also makes each person unique. When a new person is born, it is DNA that connects them to their ancestors. The ways in which synthetic DNA challenges understandings of genetic binding, identity, privacy, and control are discussed. In particular, the development of synthetic DNA offers the opportunity to re-evaluate the meaning that humans attach to genes. The potential for partial or complete engineering of the human genome opens up entirely new avenues of genetic reproduction. This technology marks the beginning of a new era in the development of genetics, disrupting traditional notions of passing on part of one’s own genome to one’s offspring. Revolutionary technologies such as CRISPR often force society to reconsider alternative visions of imaginary futures, prompting individuals to decide which ones are worth pursuing and which ones to abandon. Transluminated utopias fail to achieve these goals because the future they envision through gene editing technologies denies the reality of human vulnerability and affirms the destructive narrative that a better future depends on eliminating biodiversity and disability, ideally, utopian thinking should draw on the experiential knowledge gained by members of diverse social groups to imagine what conditions might constitute a better future for diverse members of society.