Why in news?
With regards to its use and misuse.
What is it?
- Eugenics is the study to deliberately align individuals with different genetic features to improve the population.
- It aims at reducing human suffering through the “selective out production” of diseases, disabilities and so-called unwanted human population characteristics.
- Eugenics promoted the breeding and prevention of mentally challenged people.
- Contemporary eugenics also called human genetic modification, has been clinically and ethically further forwarded which offers hope of cure of many of the crippling diseases but still controversial.
- A major criticism of eugenics policies is that they are susceptible to abuse, irrespective of whether negative or positive policies are being used, as criteria of genetic selections are identified.
- In particular, negative eugenics, which include the right to reproduce, are criticized by many as a breach of basic human rights.
- Another concern is that eugenics programs inevitably result in a loss of genetic diversity and thus a loss of genetic diversity inbreeding depression.
- Another criticism is that it is designed to disrupt millions of years of evolution permanently and artificially and that attempting to create’ clean’ genetic lines of disorders could have a far-reaching downstream impact on genetic ecology, including negative immunity and resilience of the species.
