The Study of Eugenics
... of sexual, drug, or alcohol crimes and others viewed as degenerate" (Larson). In late 1994, The Bell Curve was published. The research quoted in the book is taken mostly from members of the American Eugenics Society and other eugenics groups. “The book concludes that all men are not equal, and that the Declaration of Independence is badly worded.” (Clements) The book was generally praised by conservatives and attacked by liberals. The summary of eugenics, was on the best seller list for weeks. In modern society, eugenics most recently became a hot topic when scientists announced the first successful cloning of Dolly the sheep. Dolly had the exact genetic make up as her mother. This revelation immediately got people talking about the possibility of cloning humans. “If cloning research were pursued, it has been estimated that human cloning could become a practical reality within the next one to two decades.” (Pearson) Some negative aspects of eugenics include reducing the fertility of persons suffering from low intelligence and physical defects that are deemed as undesirable, and can be passed on to future generations. At the same time, cloning could operate as a form of positive eugenics, increasing the number of births of babies with excellent health and high intelligence. One thing that many people disagree upon is whether or not eugenics and genetic cloning is ethically right or wrong. On one hand, it could eliminate children being born with life threatening diseases by forewarning parents of potential medical problems. “It is known that hemophilia, albinism, and certain structural abnormalities are inheritable. Family gene maps, called pedigrees, can help families with serious diseases avoid having children with the same diseases through genetic counseling, and, increasingly, prospective parents can be tested directly for the presence of undesired genes.” (Prothero) Another possible use of genetics could be the production of healthy organs. For example, heart disease is one of the top causes of death in the United States. Scientists predict that they will someday be able to clone healthy heart cells and inject them into damaged areas of the heart to cure defects. There is also a possibility that doctors will be able to take healthy cells and tissue from a patient's body and use them to create organs. This would eliminate the need for organ donor waiting lists. People would no longer be facing early death because there is not a healthy heart or other organ available to them. At the same time, some people question if it is morally right to, in terms, “play god”. Some go as far as calling eugenics “scientific racism”. They compare the science of euge...