Eugenics

Genetic modification of human zygotes is a very contemporary and controversial phenomenon within our modern society. Biomedical technology is allowing us to explore our genetic material in depth, and we are starting to link particular group of genes to physical and intellectual characteristics of the human body. This technology will soon allow people to modify the DNA bases in order to produce different proteins and therefore change those innate characteristics. For how amazing this could sound at first, it is absolutely necessary to consider the devastating side effects that this would cause, that among many others would concern morality, economics, beauty, evolution and immunity to diseases.

In a world where the external environment is constantly evolving, humans have developed one mechanism that promotes attachment and mating with the most compatible individual, that is what we call love. When thinking of love, one could simply think of romance, or passion. However, there is much more than that, as love is exactly what allowed mammals to survive aggressive environment by constantly evolving through the ability of making specific mating choices based on immune systems. In this position paper, I will argue the importance of the trigger for attraction (Major Histocompatibility Complex) in human evolution and survival, and how genetic modification will limit this ability. Following this, I will illustrate a possible counterargument and proceed to rebut it, concluding that it should not be allowed to genetically manipulate immune systems.

The Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) was observed on humans by the Swiss researcher Klaus Wedekind in 1995, through his most famous “Smelly T-shirt Experiment”. Smelly, because the way to a woman’s heart is not only through physical beauty and charm, but through her nose. The MHC is a group of genes that code for proteins located outside of the cell membrane, and it works as a group of signal molecules. The MHC will vary depending on the Immune System of the individual, making it possible for females to recognise the most compatible mate among the population, through the sense of smell.

At this point, one may be wondering why would females need to recognise the immune system to choose a compatible partner? What does the immune system have to do with evolution anyway? Evolution is the key to the survival of a species, and vice versa. Survival does not only consist in having enough food resources or protection from temperature or atmospheric phenomena, but also protection from the smallest forms of pathogens, that is bacteria and virus. And here comes the need to have a very complex and diverse immune system, that is a result of a combination of two different “parent” ones that will provide extra immunity to the offspring. Because of the need to “blend” genes, sexual reproduction is our only way to evolve together with the environment, adapting to it and influencing