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fxrky t1_ireqft9 wrote

Does anyone know where the controversy surrounding gene editing comes from?

I know there was the whole sci-fi dystopia angle that was pushed for a while in Hollywood, but what gives?

Someone, somewhere, must have started a campaign to paint it negatively at some point.

I've literally never heard a good argument against editing, its always the same batshit line of logic that pro-life people usually make. Something something natural something something gods image.

But the people who think like that never come to those conclusions on their own; i feel like I'm missing some huge piece of information.

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Rguy315 t1_iresz2l wrote

Among proponents of gene editing there is a debate about whether or not it should be done in a way that passes the altered genes onto offspring or not. That's a bit more interesting than the "nature is good" fallacious arguments.

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supersecretpudding t1_irf1fgq wrote

I hadn't considered that.. we don't want to cause a butterfly effect where 10 generations later we suddenly can't reproduce or something mad I guess, but I'm not a scientist and have no idea so that's probably pretty unlikely

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refusered t1_irese7d wrote

A lot of people don’t like eugenics programs especially after… after… the holo… yeah

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mookanana t1_iresbwn wrote

same as any scientific advancement in history: there'll always be people dissing it out of ignorance and fear of change

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JokrSmokrMidntTokr t1_irg1lx8 wrote

There have been unintended consequences when working with lower animals and even plants. For instance , certain genetically modified plants will trigger peanut allergies when eaten.

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