AN ETHICAL EVALUATION OF SAVULESCUS CONCEPT OF HUMAN ENHANCEMENT IN RELATION TO GENE EDITING
Keywords:
Julian Savulescu, gene editing, human enhancement, ethical evaluation.Abstract
Throughout history, humanity has sought to enhance its existence and improve the human condition. In recent years, gene editing has emerged as a powerful tool for human enhancement, sparking ethical debates about its implications. Julian Savulescu, a leading bioethicist, advocates for the moral permissibility of genetic enhancement through technologies like clustered/ regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/ CRISPR-associated protein 9 (cas 9) particularly under his principle of procreative beneficence. While his position presents a compelling case for improving human capacities, it also raises significant ethical concerns, including issues of safety, social inequality, the limits of enhancement, and its implications for human identity and dignity. This study critically examines the ethical dimensions of Savulescu’s advocacy for human enhancement through gene editing, assessing both its strengths and its moral and philosophical challenges. This research employs an analytic method to evaluates key issues such as the risks of genetic modification, potential disparities in access, and the broader impact on what it means to be human. The findings reveal that while Savulescu’s argument offers a persuasive justification for gene editing in some cases, unresolved ethical challenges particularly concerning fairness, long-term consequences, and the redefinition of human nature necessitate a cautious approach. This research recommends that government should establish regulatory Frameworks for limiting the essences that comes with human enhancement using genetic technologies.References
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