Societies already struggling to define the balance between the parental and state interests in the context of abortion will have an even tougher time drawing this line for parent-driven assisted reproduction.But if we thought the debates over abortion and genetically modified crops were contentious, wait until the coming debate over genetically modified people arrives.If we don’t want this to tear us asunder, we must all come together in a public process to figure out the best ways forward.* * *

The disgraceful history of eugenics

Excerpted from “Hacking Darwin: Genetic Engineering and the Future of Humanity” by Jamie Metzl (Sourcebooks, 2019)

The term eugenics combines the Greek roots for good and birth.Although coined in the nineteenth century, the concept of selective breeding and human population culling has a more ancient history.Infanticide was written into Roman law and practiced widely in the Roman Empire.“A father shall immediately put to death,” Table IV of the Twelve Tables of Roman Law stated, “a son who is a monster, or has a form different from that of the human race.” In ancient Sparta, city elders inspected newborns to ensure that any who seemed particularly sickly would not survive.