Ethical Controversy and Reflection on Gene Enhancement / 中国医学伦理学

ABSTRACT

Gene enhancement is one of the research hotspots at home and abroad in recent years. Gene enhancement is expected to treat human genetic diseases and improve human abilities and traits, but it also raises a series of ethical problems. From the perspective of ethics, those who support gene enhancement, starting from the open and unfinished state of human nature, advocate that gene enhancement is an effective alternative to promote human nature for kindness and social equity, and believe that gene enhancement does not necessarily lead to inequality, on the contrary, it contributes to moral improvement. Opponents, starting from the integrity of human nature, hold that gene enhancement challenges human dignity, causes a crisis of human identity, has a serious impact on social fairness and justice, and is also a violation of the natural order. By sorting out and analyzing the ethical viewpoints that support and oppose gene enhancement, this paper found that the social fairness and justice issues caused by gene enhancement can be reasonably solved through exercising the roles of the government and the market, while the human nature problems caused by gene enhancement are more complex, and the setting of natural standards lacks a basis. At the same time, gene enhancement also makes people further reflect on the relationship between human and technology.