Re: Boris Johnson urged to fire adviser who has voiced support for eugenics

Yep. As a society we accept certain risks. Until they are spelled out.

Re: Boris Johnson urged to fire adviser who has voiced support for eugenics

I have seen reports on IVF confirming higher predisposition to less visible anomalies or chronic conditions later in life. Although more research is needed. It's unclear whether the process itself can cause trauma but any genetic engineering will run the same risks and uncertainties.

Re: Boris Johnson urged to fire adviser who has voiced support for eugenics

The views are just as abhorrent as Hitler's views on race. We have an egalitarian societal model and we do not need any social engineering programs dreamed up by closet extremists. If they have these interests that's fine as long as they are not in power. Those in power or close to should certainly be vetted for extreme views.

Re: Boris Johnson urged to fire adviser who has voiced support for eugenics

The Nazis cherry picked from the emerging science of genetics to justify their programs of what they saw as the need to restore an ideal man from the soup that had resulted from unstructured cross breeding and immorality. They added the Nordic mythology and more and set off looking for what was not there to be found.

Unfortunately this has resulted in the scientific study of eugenics and racial difference to become a no-go area. It's painful for me especially to say this but that is the most awful outcome of what the Nazis did.

Re: Boris Johnson urged to fire adviser who has voiced support for eugenics

So how do you think we should use eugenics?

Re: Boris Johnson urged to fire adviser who has voiced support for eugenics

To reduce the prevalence of congenital diseases within the gene pool as a starter.

Re: Boris Johnson urged to fire adviser who has voiced support for eugenics

They are already using genetic research to screen people for congenital diseases so that they can be avoided. But you mentioned it's unfortunate that the study of eugenics and "racial difference" is a no-go area. So how would you suggest that such research is used?

Re: Boris Johnson urged to fire adviser who has voiced support for eugenics

Screening people for genetic traits is hindered by the silly idea that everyone is the same and screening races for inherited traits would not even get off the starting blocks - but it should.

Beyond that I'm not going to bite!

I'll just say to remove political correctness from establishing reality is something that is desperately needed, especially now.

Re: Boris Johnson urged to fire adviser who has voiced support for eugenics

At present pregnant women can undergo a voluntary test for trisomie 21 (down syndrome). Voluntary because there is a little, but significant, risk of abortion due to the test.

As a society we could legalize compulsory testing. But that would mean we accept a certain number of additional abortions (above the spontaneous cases), also of non-down syndrome. And we would have to make abortion obligatory in case the test shows trisomie 21, otherwise, why test.
So, we would impose on women to accept that in testing they kill their child? Because although the risk is 4 in 100.000 testings, in case of obliged testing, those 4 will occur. And are you willing to be one of those 4?
Furthermore, we would force women to undergo abortion, even if they were prepared to raise a down child.

It will take some discussion before eugenics is applied science.

Re: Boris Johnson urged to fire adviser who has voiced support for eugenics

It is not so long ago that, if you wanted to change your gender, you had to be sterilised so that you could no longer reproduce. That requirement is scrapped, but you would be in favour of the original measure?