Why Is Gattaca Unethical

Though the use of pre-natal hereditary screening is as of now utilized as a part of high-hazard pregnancies for recognition of illness, for example, Down syndrome and Huntington 's chorea (Ridley 55, 98). As researchers decide the qualities for extra hereditary conditions, screening of incipient organisms will give more data to potential biological parents, former to their offspring has advanced. On the off chance that a screened embryo were found to convey qualities for a specific malady or inability, its guardians may specifically prematurely end it. This gives parents a choice of raising a child with a disability or back out if they don’t have the means to support the child financially, physically, emotionally or mentally. This is a good thing despite what others say because if a child is born with a disability in to family that doesn’t have the means to support it, it is unfair to all parties

It can be said that we live in a world where there is a constant desire for perfection in the different aspects of life. Some people desire to have the picture-perfect life: loving family, dream house, career, social life, and car to name a few. In an attempt to construct a perfect life that some desire, there recently have been developments in the medical world that allow parents to know if their fetus has any chronic diseases. This ultimately allows the parents to make the decision of whether they want to keep the fetus. With the continuous advancements in the medical world, it would not be shocking to think that parents would be able to select desirable traits for the children in the future.

Medical advancements are very important for extending the quality and quantity of life, however a strong moral compass is needed to make sure, in the name of science, ethical and moral science are not crossed. Brave New World, written by Aldous Huxley, and the movie Gattaca propose a technologically advanced society that challenges these ethical and moral views. Although Brave New World and Gattaca relate in the aspect of genetic discrimination, they differ in the limits and powers of technology and the effects of human spirit.

This section of Chalmers’ book makes the reader ponder the morality of medical experiments like abortions, stem cell research, and infanticide in the world today and questions whether we have learned from Nazi medical experiments in the past.

Although the intentions of genetically modifying DNA in human embryos is aimed to rid society of genetic defects, it is still essential that this scientific discovery remains ethical. In an article on NPR.org, Rob Stein describes an experiment that scientists have been conducting in which they modify human DNA in order to eliminate life threatening genetic diseases that could be passed on for generations (Stein). In Portland, at Oregon Health & Science University, Paula Amato, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology, explains “that their work is aimed at preventing terrible diseases, not creating genetically enhanced people...much more research is needed to confirm the technique is safe and effective before anyone tries to make a baby this way”(Stein). Because scientists like Amato realize their research is controversial, they are taking every precaution to assure what they are doing is morally correct, they are not intending to corrupt society. Although their intentions are good, it is their job to make sure their research is being used in an ethical way. If not, millions of people, who are already obsessed with the idea of perfection, will be able to do something about

The movie Gattaca is set in the future, and is a story about a man named Vincent Freeman who dreams of traveling to the stars. In this future, society has developed categories that each person falls in to depending on their genetic makeup. In the film parents have the ability to choose specific genetic composition of their children. Vincent Freeman’s genetics leave him in the less than favorable category making his dreams of space travel at Gattaca Corporation impossible. As one of the last natural born babies in a sterile and genetically enhanced world, Vincent had poor eyesight, heart problems and was not expected to live past the age of 30. Society has determined that people such as Vincent are in an underclass of humans and are only good for menial jobs simply based on their genotype. Vincent’s dreams will not be stifled so he devises a scheme to buy another identity. He finds Jerome Morrow a former athlete with favorable genetics, and a paraplegic as the result of a tragic car accident. The two become skilled at deceiving DNA tests as well as urine and blood testing. With Vincent and Jerome’s plan in place Vincent finds himself in a position to join a crew planning to travel to one of Saturn’s moons, Titan. Unfortunately

Life extensions are critically dependent on futuristic medical advancements. However, a strong noble compass is needed to ensure scientific advancements do not cross moral ethics of life. Brave New World, written by Aldous Huxley, and the movie Gattaca, directed by Andrew Niccol, propose technologically advanced societies that challenge ethical and moral views. Although Brave New World and Gattaca relate in genetic discrimination, they differ in technology’s powers and limits, as well as the resiliency of the human spirit.

Gina Kolata’s article, Ethics Questions Arise as Genetic Testing of Embryos Increases (2014), explains that as the increase of the testing of embryos for parents to choose whether or not to have children has also brought its ethical questions in the light. Kolata uses the Kalinskys case, a family in the article, and how their neurological disease, Gerstmann-Straussler-Schinker (GSS), has raised questions for ethicists who have looked into the case. Kolata’s purpose in writing this article is to inform the audience on the growing topic of embryo testing and also the ethical question that also accompany in order to have the audience to develop a personal view on the issue. Given how the author explains the technical terms used within the article, Kolata is writing to an audience that is not fully aware of genetic testing.

The advanced technology today makes it possible to fetus’s potential conditions when it is born. Not everything is perfect and sometimes we find out that a baby

There are two main ways genetic testing places a constraint on a child’s right to an open future. The first of these is that the revelation of a child’s disease status can change his life narrative and the way parents and others treat him, and substantially alter his or her life’s trajectory (Davis _____). Parents may feel guilty or shelter their not-yet-sick

Derek Parfit in “Energy Policy and the Further Future” presents the dilemma of whether or not there is a moral difference between allowing thousands of children to be born with an illness and later cured, or rather never allowing these same children to be born and instead have a “different child” come out of the child bearing process with their health fully intact. In the case in which funding can only be attributed to one of these circumstances, I would support the situation in which doctors performed Preconception Testing. I feel as though this is the most morally acceptable answer because it would prevent a human life from having to endure an unnecessary handicap. Regardless of the fact that children in the first example would eventually

The advancement of medical technology has made it possible to detect medical abnormalities while a child is still a fetus and can create difficult choices for parents to make if severe anomalies are discovered. There are many theories regarding the moral status of the fetus that can be applied when deciding how to proceed if these abnormalities are detected. In the fetal abnormality case study, Jessica, Marco, Maria, and Dr. Wilson each have varying opinions on what course of action to take based on these different theories of moral status.

However this paper is designed to focus on other morally problematic aspects of fetal research. The first is that fetal research as it is now carried out today in the United States violates the human dignity of the unborn through violating agreed upon principles governing organ donations generally. Secondly the legal and moral restrictions imposed on fetal research not only have failed to secure ethical research but the nature of the research itself gives an incentive to morally problematic behavior.

As serious as the medical ethics violations were in the medical experiments, the most serious violations occurred in clinical medicine and public health, which were philosophically dominated by eugenics. "Eugenics" is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as "the science [sic] dealing with factors that influence the hereditary qualities of a race and with ways of improving these qualities,

The technology used by the Freemans to conceive Anton is similar to modern in vitro fertilisation (IVF). Furthermore, one contemporary use of biotechnology is preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), which consists of extracting eight cells from an IVF-generated three-day-old embryo at risk of genetic disorder, and analysing its DNA to locate genes correlated with genetic defects. This technology proves beneficial as only embryos free of genetic defects are implanted into the uterus. Moreover, PGD enables parents to choose their children’s characteristics, such as gender, and, in the near future, other desirable traits like intelligence, akin to what occurs in Gattaca, which presents its devastating repercussions. PGD can be utilised to conceive a child with the purpose of saving another.