When does genomics become eugenics?

As the tools to identify human traits and manipulate them become more refined, ideas about normalcy and deviancy, fitness and disability, are subtly changing.

Whose values are guiding gene-editing experiments, and what are the implications for humanity? iStock

Eben Kirksey

Dec 11, 2020 – 1.21pm

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Simply Google “BGI NIFTY” and you will find a slick website from China’s premier genomics company offering new options in the quest for quality children. This screening technology has already been used in more than 62 countries in Asia, Europe, the Americas, and the Middle East.

The NIFTY webpage has a “decision calculator” to see if you should mitigate the risks of your pregnancy. An embedded YouTube video offers a perspective from a young white couple. They talk in British accents about the importance of accuracy, saying that they are willing to pay for the best prenatal care on the market. An older single woman says that this will be her first and perhaps only baby, and she wants to make sure that nothing is wrong.