AN ETHICAL EVALUATION OF EUGENICS VIS A VIS THE PRACTICE OF PRE-IMPLANTATION GENETIC DIAGNOSIS

Chidiebere Obi, Sly-Toddy Ozara, Nnaemeka Edwin Chukwukelu

Abstract


It is worthy of note that the scientific system is progressive in nature and tends towards human and societal advancement. Francis Galton, following the model of Darwinian Theory of evolution which holds that species do change as a result of natural selection, introduced Eugenics. He proposed that through eugenics, human beings could take charge of their own evolution by getting rid of the undesirable and by multiplying the desirables. This view was greeted with much criticism and didn’t record much success. But with the rise of gene-therapy and pre-implantation genetic diagnosis; which is a scientific technique that entails using invitro fertilization to ensure that a baby does not possess a known genetic defect of either parent; after genetic analysis of embryos so formed, only those free of defect are implanted in the mother’s womb; we are beset with the revival of eugenics. This work aims at evaluating the values and moral implications of eugenics in its varied shades and attempts to proffer recommendations that will give the practice more ethical acceptability. Keywords: Bio-ethics, Eugenics, Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis, In-vitro fertilization, Gene-therapy, Ethical evaluation, Morality.

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References


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