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Why Is Gattaca Unethical

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Ethics of Genegeneering Investigate and discuss how a society based on producing ‘designer babies’ may or may not create more happiness and greater benefits for the greater number of people. Refer to the film Gattaca, Jeremy Bentham’s Hedonic calculus, the principles of Utilitarianism and the work of Emmanuel Kant in your discussion. One of the most interesting biomedical advances in recent years, which also brings about great social repercussion is preimplantation genetic screening, which has two uses, producing babies free of genetic or hereditary diseases and the production of so called ‘designer babies.’ The 1997 film Gattaca addresses the ethical issues as well as social repercussions brought about from preimplantation genetic screening …show more content…

Through the use of preimplantation genetic screening, infants can be born free of both genetic and hereditary diseases in the world created in this film. Along with this, certain desired traits can also be chosen due to the genetic screening method, which results in ‘designer babies’. Gattaca focuses on Vincent Freeman, a human conceived in a world of ‘designer babies’. However, Vincent was born without the aid of genetic engineering so his genetics are ‘flawed’, which is one of the issues present in the film. In a world of ‘designer babies’ that is shown in the film, discrimination occurs frequently. However, instead of discrimination against race and colour, it is against how ‘perfect’ their genetics are, whether they are susceptible to various diseases or not, and similar issues. Vincent’s younger brother Anton is conceived with the aid of genetic engineering to make him ‘flawless’ so that he is no longer susceptible to hereditary along with genetic diseases but along with this, he was also born with desired traits. The movie focuses on how Vincent is discriminated against in the workplace due to not having perfect genetics, as a result of the aid of genetic engineering. Freeman must impersonate another person, so that they think his genetics are flawless in order to achieve his dream of travelling to …show more content…

‘Designer babies’ both promote happiness and reverse it in different aspects, such as living without the need to worry about genetic or hereditary diseases, and having desirable traits would evoke pleasure. However, as Gattaca demonstrates, this could also lead to the opposite result for people born in a society or community of ‘designer babies’ without being one. A debate exists about the morality of ‘designer babies’, as on one hand it may lead to happiness but at the same time leads to the reverse of it. Genegeneering can be beneficial, but also

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