Julian Savulescu is an ethics professor at Oxford University. He is interested in cloning, stem cell research and genetic moral enhancement.
He claims that if possible parents using in-vitro fertilization (IVF) have a responsibility to select the best children they can, given all of the relevant genetic information available to them.
At present parents using IVF can screen for conditions such as cystic fibrosis and Down's Syndrome.
Savulescu says the next step ought to be screening for 'personality flaws such as potential alcoholism, psychopathy and disposition to violence'. He argues that people have a moral obligation to select ethically better children, claiming that:
'They are, after all, less likely to harm themselves and others. If we have the power to intervene in the nature of our offspring — rather than consigning them to the natural lottery — then we should.' http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/9480372/Genetically-engineering-ethical-babies-is-a-moral-obligation-says-Oxford-professor.html
Savulescu believes that society has a moral obligation to use genetic technologies to create 'better people'. What do you think?
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It is proposed that where possible parents using IVF should use genetic technologies to enhance their offspring rather than leaving this to chance