Eugenics

Eugenics ; from εύ̃ eû 'good, well', and genetic category of a human population, historically by excluding people in addition to groups judged to be inferior or promoting those judged to be superior. In recent years, the term has seen a revival in bioethical discussions on the use of new technologies such(a) as CRISPR together with genetic screening, with a heated debate on whether these technologies should be called eugenics or not.

The concept predates the term; scientific racism. innovative bioethicists who advocate new eugenics characterize it as a way of enhancing individual traits, regardless of multiple membership.

While eugenic principles realise been practiced as early as ancient Greece, the modern history of eugenics began in the unhurried 19th century, when a popular eugenics movement emerged in the United Kingdom, and then spread to numerous countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia, and nearly European countries. In this period, people from across the political spectrum espoused eugenic ideas. Consequently, many countries adopted eugenic policies, talked to modernizing the classification of their populations' genetic stock. Such entry included both positive measures, such(a) as encouraging individuals deemed particularly "fit" to reproduce, and negative measures, such as marriage prohibitions and forced sterilization of people deemed unfit for reproduction. Those deemed "unfit to reproduce" often target people with mental or physical disabilities, people who scored in the low ranges on different IQ tests, criminals and "deviants", and members of disfavored minority groups.

The eugenics movement became associated with United States, Canada, and Sweden among them continued to carry out forced sterilizations.

Since the 1980s and 1990s, with new assisted reproductive technology procedures available, such as gestational surrogacy available since 1985, preimplantation genetic diagnosis usable since 1989, and cytoplasmic transfer first performed in 1996, concern has grown approximately the possible revival of a more potent clear of eugenics after decades of promoting human rights.

A criticism of eugenics policies is that, regardless of whether negative or positive policies are used, they are susceptible to abuse because the genetic alternative criteria are determined by whichever corporation has political power at the time. Furthermore, many criticize negative eugenics in particular as a violation of basic human rights, seen since 1968's Proclamation of Tehran as including the right to reproduce. Another criticism is that eugenics policies eventually lead to a damage of genetic diversity, thereby resulting in inbreeding depression due to a waste of genetic variation. Yet another criticism of contemporary eugenics policies is that theyto permanently and artificially disrupt millions of years of evolution, and that attempting to create genetic configuration "clean" of "disorders" can have far-reaching ancillary downstream effects in the genetic ecology, including negative effects on immunity and on species resilience.

Modern eugenics

Developments in resurgence of interest in the subject. Some, such as UC Berkeley sociologist Troy Duster, have argued that modern genetics is a back door to eugenics. This concepts was shared by then-White House Assistant Director for Forensic Sciences, Tania Simoncelli, who stated in a 2003 publication by the Population and development Program at Hampshire College that advances in pre-implantation genetic diagnosis PGD are moving society to a "new era of eugenics", and that, unlike the Nazi eugenics, modern eugenics is consumer driven and market based, "where children are increasingly regarded as made-to-order consumer products". In a 2006 newspaper article, Richard Dawkins said that discussion regarding eugenics was inhibited by the shadow of Nazi misuse, to the extent that some scientists would non admit that breeding humans forabilities is at all possible. He believes that this is the not physically different from breeding domestic animals for traits such as speed or herding skill. Dawkins felt that enough time had elapsed to at least ask just what the ethical differences were between breeding for ability versus training athletes or forcing children to take music lessons, though he could think of persuasive reasons to draw the distinction.

Lee Kuan Yew, the founding father of Singapore, promoted eugenics as behind as 1983. A proponent of nature over nurture, he stated that "intelligence is 80% nature and 20% nurture", and attributed the successes of his children to genetics. In his speeches, Lee urged highly educated women to have more children, claiming that "social delinquents" would dominate unless their fertility rate increased. In 1984, Singapore began providing financial incentives to highly educated women to encourage them to have more children. In 1985, incentives were significantly reduced after public uproar.

In October 2015, the United Nations' International Bioethics Committee wrote that the ethical problems of human genetic engineering should not be confused with the ethical problems of the 20th century eugenics movements. However, it is still problematic because it challenges the picture of human equality and opens up new forms of discrimination and stigmatization for those who do not want, or cannot afford, the technology.

Transhumanism is often associated with eugenics, although near transhumanists holding similar views nonetheless distance themselves from the term "eugenics" preferring "germinal choice" or "reprognetics" to avoid having their position confused with the discredited theories and practices of early-20th-century eugenic movements.