HIST 20 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Designer Baby, Crispr, System On A Chip
Document Summary
Case study: genetics researcher he jiankui and taboo of designer babies. Created the world"s first genetically-edited human babies. Can be seen as unethical human experiment. He jiankui: southern univ of sci and tech in shenzhen, china. Genetic engineering crispr to change human embryos and use them to create babies. Scientists think it may be okay to prevent terrible diseases. Advocates of editing human dna say it"s premature. More research needed to make sure crispr is safe. Opens the door to a taboo topic: genetically modified humans that could be passed down for generations. Could create new diseases that could be passed for generations. Could create stronger babies race of genetically superior super babies. More research needed to see if claims are true. See when we should proceed for editing human dna like this. To practitioners in psych, anthro, soc, the answer is yes: human nature and society can be studied by science.
