'Aliens' Are Among Us!

[Chu Gai]

And they may be fully capable of reproduction with regular humans.

The World’s First Genetically Modified Babies Will Graduate High School This Year | TechCrunch

Apparently we only know the whereabouts of a little over half of them. In the same way that many vigorously oppose genetic modification of foodstuffs and call for laws and regulations for their labeling so consumers are fully informed, what do we do with these 30 persons?

Should they be required to register with the local government? That may not be enough so perhaps as a public safety issue, the government should institute a policy of placing identifying markings on them. Tattoos, branding, something, no? Or perhaps they can be sterilized so they don't contaminate the gene pool?

This may not be a problem now, but who knows about the future?

 

[markw]

Wasn't that the plot of a TV show with Jessica Alba few years ago?

 

[rojo]

This seems like an alarmist view to me. Natural selection will weed out their progeny if the results of the tampering are dire. Otherwise, it could be viewed as a cure for potentially debilitating hereditary diseases. As stated in the article, "these original embryonic modifications were for parents who would potentially pass on severe genetic diseases to their children if it weren’t for scientific intervention." We've worked as a species to eradicate polio, leprosy, and a host of other life-threatening ailments. So why not diabetes, Lou Gehrig's disease, and so on as well through genetic manipulation?

If my parents both suffered from Parkinson's, for example, and they had the ability to make sure they didn't pass the disorder on to me, I'd be glad they did. But I would certainly not want to be labeled, giving a panicked public a reason to identify and target me for whatever ignorance-fueled hateful retribution happens to occur to them.

 

[herbu]

But I would certainly not want to be labeled, giving a panicked public a reason to identify and target me for whatever ignorance-fueled hateful retribution happens to occur to them.

Kind of like "Senior Audioholic", or "should be listened to"?
You 1%, entitled, better-than-thou, uppity, know-it-all!!!

 

[rnatalli]

Genetic modification is a very slippery slope. Start with weeding out diseases, next thing you know, we have Gattaca.

 

[herbu]

Genetic modification is a very slippery slope.

Slippery slope indeed. The problem is who decides when enough is enough? We can all probably agree there would be some potential benefits. We can all probably also agree there is an extreme outcome that would be undesirable. We can all probably never agree on where to draw the line. That is the backbone of most all political differences today.