On Mon, 7 Jul 2003, Trei, Peter wrote:

Its when we get to 'fixes' to behaviour and personality that things start to get very hairy. I fear that those in power will use genetic engineering as they have used every other tool at their disposal - weapons, states, laws, and governments - to maintain their position at the expense of the overall welfare of the species, by allowing improvements only to their own descendents, while requiring changes to those out of power which make it harder for them to change their status.

One scenario:

"Mr & Mrs Smith: The No Child Should Fear Act of 2015 requires that your proposed son have the 'bullying' gene deleted if he is to attend publicly funded schools. This is similar to the old requirements for vaccination - we don't want your son to endanger other children, do we?

I have long believed that the constitution of the United States (through an ammendment) should include protection against involuntary mental tampering. It should, for instance, be a constitutional right for a child not to take their Ritalin, or for an insane man not to take his meds in order to stand trial (a recent court case whose outcome I do not know). Along this line, perhaps a more general anti-tampering ammendment could include protection against the coercion that you describe above. I feel that no parent should be forced to alter their child in any way - before or after the birth. ----- John Kozubik - john@kozubik.com - http://www.kozubik.com