Should they be allowed within Star Fleet?

[Rhade Annahsahzie 0]

A recent episode of Ds9 inspired this thread.

Should those that have had genetic resequencing/genetic enhancements be allowed within Star Fleet? Would openly allowing them within Star Fleet condone or support the illegal practice? Whats your stance on the issue of genetic engineering?

[LoAmi 0]

I know which DS9 episode you saw, and I was actually very disappointed with the way it handled the topic. It seemed to advocate a very paranoid view of "genetic engineering," without actually specifying *what* it meant by the term. The term is also very loaded in today's political climate.

 

Generically, "genetic engineering" involves any artificial modification of DNA. That includes nearly all of modern (and presumably, 24th century) microbiology and cell biology research. It also includes modifications of genes to cure diseases (aka "gene therapy"), produce pest-resistent plants (which can reduce dependence on artificial pesticides), etc. Effectively, genetic engineering had been practiced on plants and animals through selective breeding since agriculture had been discovered.

 

In contemporary society, the most pressing GE-related issue is the sometimes irrational fear of generically modified planets, but, the concept of "designer babies" seems to always lurk on the horizon (and was addressed in a Voyager episode).

 

We do know from that Voyager episode that Starfleet/Federation do allow genetic resequencing to correct birth defects. And, we know that they find it unethical to attempt to produce a "superior" baby through the use of GE. This stand makes sense given the history of the eugenics wars on Earth. That episode, I thought, handled the issue much better than the DS9 one. We also know that the Denobulans think they can handle GE of people ethically, but it was never specified what was meant by that.

 

I think that one can defend correcting actual defects through genetic engineering, and certainly, it should be ok to do research involving GE.

 

It's harder to defend attempts to make "better" humans by tinkering with the genome, for a variety of reasons, including: (1) that in has to involve an unnecessary medical intervention; (2) given how complicated living beings are. it may have unintended consequences; (3) all humans having a similar (even if "improved") genetic makeup makes us more suceptible to the drawbacks of that makeup; (4) it necessarily creates a "genetic inequality" between the haves and have-nots, and so on.