Skip to content
  • Categories
  • Recent
  • Tags
  • Popular
  • World
  • Users
  • Groups
Skins
  • Light
  • Brite
  • Cerulean
  • Cosmo
  • Flatly
  • Journal
  • Litera
  • Lumen
  • Lux
  • Materia
  • Minty
  • Morph
  • Pulse
  • Sandstone
  • Simplex
  • Sketchy
  • Spacelab
  • United
  • Yeti
  • Zephyr
  • Dark
  • Cyborg
  • Darkly
  • Quartz
  • Slate
  • Solar
  • Superhero
  • Vapor

  • Default (No Skin)
  • No Skin
Collapse
Brand Logo

agnos.is Forums

  1. Home
  2. Ask Lemmy
  3. When rich people can edit their kids DNA won't that just lock everyone else out and create a new class?

When rich people can edit their kids DNA won't that just lock everyone else out and create a new class?

Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Ask Lemmy
asklemmy
219 Posts 116 Posters 0 Views
  • Oldest to Newest
  • Newest to Oldest
  • Most Votes
Reply
  • Reply as topic
Log in to reply
This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
  • Y [email protected]

    CRISPR and other tools aren’t science fiction anymore. If the wealthy get there first, what happens to everyone else?

    I This user is from outside of this forum
    I This user is from outside of this forum
    [email protected]
    wrote last edited by [email protected]
    #122

    Technology is (at least for now) not exclusive to the rich. There can be billionaires' secret labs and underground diy labs. Since few science fictions pop up in the topic and CRISPER is mentioned, I am going to leave CRISPER cookbook and Chapter 2 which was written in response to Roe vs Wade.

    1 Reply Last reply
    3
    • otter@lemmy.dbzer0.comO [email protected]

      Spoilers!

      D This user is from outside of this forum
      D This user is from outside of this forum
      [email protected]
      wrote last edited by [email protected]
      #123

      If you insist:

      ::: spoiler spoiler
      Jude Law is in it
      :::

      1 Reply Last reply
      2
      • N [email protected]

        The plot of the film Gattaca explores this, the idea of what society looks like when there's a class of genetically engineered, "superior" people, vs. the naturally born, "inferior" class.

        sanguinepar@lemmy.worldS This user is from outside of this forum
        sanguinepar@lemmy.worldS This user is from outside of this forum
        [email protected]
        wrote last edited by
        #124

        Not seen Gattaca, but a multi-tier, genetically structured society is the basis of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, which is well worth a read.

        1 Reply Last reply
        4
        • C [email protected]

          As someone suffering from a terrible genetic disease that will kill me soon, any amount of preventing these diseases under any circumstances gets a thumbs up from me.

          C This user is from outside of this forum
          C This user is from outside of this forum
          [email protected]
          wrote last edited by [email protected]
          #125

          Sadly, the most probable cloning related future would be Gattaca

          ^(edit typo)

          1 Reply Last reply
          8
          • C [email protected]

            As someone suffering from a terrible genetic disease that will kill me soon, any amount of preventing these diseases under any circumstances gets a thumbs up from me.

            C This user is from outside of this forum
            C This user is from outside of this forum
            [email protected]
            wrote last edited by
            #126

            Yeah, I think we should probably allow the technology that will prevent people being born with these diseases first, and then worry about how we're going to deal with the other stuff. This technology isn't going to be possible to hold back indefinitely anyway.

            1 Reply Last reply
            0
            • F [email protected]

              If rich people go mucking about with their genomes, it's much more likely to backfire in unforeseen ways

              This really resonates with me. No person is that smart or has the level of foresight required to make those kinds of changes effectively (at very least in the long term).

              From time to time i think of an author i had enjoyed years ago named Robert Anton Wilson. He was a warped sonofabitch, a Yund i can't really claim to fully understand his philosophy, but even just as recently as this past week i found myself thinking about a concept he'd discussed at length: the idea that when one is very young, there are "imprints" impressed on your brain that really determine how you think/act/are. He had written a series about attempting to erase ones imprints and replace them with more advantageous ones.

              He had spent just as much time warning about the dangers of attempting to do such a thing though. As much as anybody may like to think they know what's best for themselves or anyone else, it's astounding now frequently we can be wrong due to lack of information, bad judgement, bias, etc.

              The genetic decisions one may choose to make for their offspring may have little/no relevance by the time those offspring arrive. I feel like it could be so much worse though. I imagine this is more like tweaking assembly code, but on an even more complex system that we don't even fully understand yet. The most hubristic will convince themselves they know best, but i have to imagine reality will prove them wrong every time.

              A This user is from outside of this forum
              A This user is from outside of this forum
              [email protected]
              wrote last edited by
              #127

              Gonna have to read those, thanks!

              1 Reply Last reply
              0
              • N [email protected]

                The plot of the film Gattaca explores this, the idea of what society looks like when there's a class of genetically engineered, "superior" people, vs. the naturally born, "inferior" class.

                yardratiansoma@lemmy.caY This user is from outside of this forum
                yardratiansoma@lemmy.caY This user is from outside of this forum
                [email protected]
                wrote last edited by
                #128

                The Beggars Trilogy by Nancy Kress touches on this as well, but is more focused on the issues with superintelligence rather than just gene alteration, although, because people are vain, the preference for things like hair, skin and symmetry also exist in the story's world. Oh yeah, and the coolest concept from this trilogy is a thing called "sleeplessness", where people can alter there genes to remove the biological need to sleep, allowing people to be able to be productive for as many hours as they desire.

                1 Reply Last reply
                1
                • Y [email protected]

                  CRISPR and other tools aren’t science fiction anymore. If the wealthy get there first, what happens to everyone else?

                  T This user is from outside of this forum
                  T This user is from outside of this forum
                  [email protected]
                  wrote last edited by
                  #129

                  gattaca, and the cloning show with arnold in

                  L 1 Reply Last reply
                  13
                  • Y [email protected]

                    CRISPR and other tools aren’t science fiction anymore. If the wealthy get there first, what happens to everyone else?

                    N This user is from outside of this forum
                    N This user is from outside of this forum
                    [email protected]
                    wrote last edited by
                    #130

                    Are you just now discovering that eugenics is bad?

                    A 1 Reply Last reply
                    7
                    • Y [email protected]

                      CRISPR and other tools aren’t science fiction anymore. If the wealthy get there first, what happens to everyone else?

                      Z This user is from outside of this forum
                      Z This user is from outside of this forum
                      [email protected]
                      wrote last edited by
                      #131

                      It's a new class of DARWIN humans, since such manipulated beings usually have shorter life expectation.

                      1 Reply Last reply
                      1
                      • N [email protected]

                        Are you just now discovering that eugenics is bad?

                        A This user is from outside of this forum
                        A This user is from outside of this forum
                        [email protected]
                        wrote last edited by
                        #132

                        The tech in itself isn't inherently bad, it could solve a lot of issues for a lot of people. The problem is in equal access.

                        K 1 Reply Last reply
                        13
                        • L [email protected]

                          H. G. Wells wrote The Time Machine, not Verne.

                          hurlingdurling@lemmy.worldH This user is from outside of this forum
                          hurlingdurling@lemmy.worldH This user is from outside of this forum
                          [email protected]
                          wrote last edited by
                          #133

                          My bad, dunno how I could confuse my authors

                          L 1 Reply Last reply
                          0
                          • A [email protected]

                            The tech in itself isn't inherently bad, it could solve a lot of issues for a lot of people. The problem is in equal access.

                            K This user is from outside of this forum
                            K This user is from outside of this forum
                            [email protected]
                            wrote last edited by
                            #134

                            Which is generally the problem with eugenics. No one is arguing that avoiding downs syndrome is a bad thing.

                            1 Reply Last reply
                            5
                            • Y [email protected]

                              CRISPR and other tools aren’t science fiction anymore. If the wealthy get there first, what happens to everyone else?

                              slippihud@lemmy.worldS This user is from outside of this forum
                              slippihud@lemmy.worldS This user is from outside of this forum
                              [email protected]
                              wrote last edited by
                              #135

                              I think we all end up like the Asgards from SG-1 without the ability to transfer our consciousness to a new body.

                              Extinct via hubris. Obviously this assumes we do something about runaway global heating.

                              1 Reply Last reply
                              2
                              • kolanaki@pawb.socialK [email protected]

                                We don't have back-alley gene editors yet 🤷‍♂️

                                ivanafterall@lemmy.worldI This user is from outside of this forum
                                ivanafterall@lemmy.worldI This user is from outside of this forum
                                [email protected]
                                wrote last edited by
                                #136

                                DM me, I'll figure it out.

                                1 Reply Last reply
                                0
                                • libertylizard@slrpnk.netL [email protected]

                                  Yeah it’s a cool movie but the message of systemic disadvantages don’t matter if you try hard enough is a little questionable at best.

                                  B This user is from outside of this forum
                                  B This user is from outside of this forum
                                  [email protected]
                                  wrote last edited by
                                  #137

                                  I mean... It was showing the extreme lengths he had to go through, the risks he has to take, just to compete for the same opportunities.

                                  1 Reply Last reply
                                  3
                                  • Y [email protected]

                                    Red rising

                                    I envy you people who read books. I only read maybe 5 books in my adult life. Never liked reading.

                                    ivanafterall@lemmy.worldI This user is from outside of this forum
                                    ivanafterall@lemmy.worldI This user is from outside of this forum
                                    [email protected]
                                    wrote last edited by
                                    #138

                                    Have you tried different formats? Some like physical books best, others prefer e-readers, some swear by audiobooks...?

                                    1 Reply Last reply
                                    0
                                    • underpantsweevil@lemmy.worldU [email protected]

                                      Okay, but the moral of the story was that "superior" people weren't actually superior. They were just racist.

                                      The protagonist outwits and outperforms them all.

                                      D This user is from outside of this forum
                                      D This user is from outside of this forum
                                      [email protected]
                                      wrote last edited by
                                      #139

                                      In some cases there were absolute superior though. Like the pianist with 12 fingers.

                                      The actual moral of the story was that it's not worth it. Being a bit better at some random shit like swimming, playing piano or piloting a rocket is not good enough to sacrifice the rest.

                                      underpantsweevil@lemmy.worldU 1 Reply Last reply
                                      0
                                      • T [email protected]

                                        gattaca, and the cloning show with arnold in

                                        L This user is from outside of this forum
                                        L This user is from outside of this forum
                                        [email protected]
                                        wrote last edited by
                                        #140

                                        "Your child will still be yours. Simply the best of you."

                                        1 Reply Last reply
                                        2
                                        • Y [email protected]

                                          CRISPR and other tools aren’t science fiction anymore. If the wealthy get there first, what happens to everyone else?

                                          F This user is from outside of this forum
                                          F This user is from outside of this forum
                                          [email protected]
                                          wrote last edited by
                                          #141

                                          This already happens with social factors that affect physical development like access to nutrition and a permanent place to live.

                                          1 Reply Last reply
                                          6
                                          Reply
                                          • Reply as topic
                                          Log in to reply
                                          • Oldest to Newest
                                          • Newest to Oldest
                                          • Most Votes


                                          • Login

                                          • Login or register to search.
                                          • First post
                                            Last post
                                          0
                                          • Categories
                                          • Recent
                                          • Tags
                                          • Popular
                                          • World
                                          • Users
                                          • Groups