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In his piece, ‘In vitro eugenics’,1 Robert Sparrow argues that the use of pluripotent stem cell–derived gametes (PSCDGs) for in vitro multi-generational human genetics is likely to be used as a technology of human enhancement, ‘allowing researchers to use all the techniques of selective breeding to produce human individuals with a desired genotype’. The author's goal is to prompt and inform a scholarly discussion about this technological advance and its application in human reproduction. While Sparrow does an excellent job of laying out the relevant scientific and ethical issues,i his choice of language in some cases is problematic and distracts from the important debate about human germline genetic modification in which societies must engage prior to the birth of the first genetically modified baby,ii from any technology.
Language matters
While I fully support the aim of the paper, I am concerned that Sparrow's use of language is at times both inaccurate and inflammatory. For example, in vitro multi-generational human genetics can only be understood as ‘in vitro eugenics’ if the goal is, in fact, to use the technology for reproduction. The word ‘eugenics’ describes “the science of improving a human population by controlled breeding to increase the occurrence of desirable heritable characteristics.”iii If the science never leaves the lab bench, and the selected embryos are used solely for research and never in an effort to produce a baby who may grow and live among the rest of us, …
Footnotes
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Competing interests None.
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Provenance and peer review Commissioned; internally peer reviewed.
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↵i I think it is particularly important to appreciate, as Sparrow points out, that in vitro multi-generational human genetics does not help the project of having genetically-related offspring. This is a technology that, when used in reproduction, is likely only to serve the goal of producing genetically modified infants, frequently or exclusively in hopes of achieving genetic enhancement.
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↵ii For the purposes of this article, I am focusing on the specific genetic modification of the nuclear DNA of human germ cells or the cells from which germ cells are derived.
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↵iii Oxford Dictionaries Online: http://oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/eugenics?q=eugenics
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↵iv Oxford Dictionaries Online defines breeding as: the activity of controlling the mating and production of offspring of animals (http://oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/breeding)
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↵v Oxford Dictionaries Online defines a human being as: a man, woman, or child of the species Homo sapiens, distinguished from other animals by superior mental development, power of articulate speech, and upright stance. (http://oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/human-being?q=human+being)
Linked Articles
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