Philosopher Sam Kerstein on the Morality of Genome Engineering, Inequality, and Star Trek – Episode #9

Corey and Steve speak with Samuel Kerstein, Professor of Philosophy and expert in Medical Ethics at the University of Maryland. They discuss the ethics of genome engineering and preimplantation embryo selection, and the inequality and narrowing of human diversity that might result from widespread adoption of these technologies. Among the topics covered: Why genome engineering at this time is immoral. Should we always pick the healthiest embryo? In the future will parents have a moral obligation to engineer their children? Will there be an arms race between countries to engineer their populations? Is Star Trek’s Khan a more advanced person (Steve) or just another smart psychopath (Sam) or both?

Resources

• Samuel J. Kerstein
• How to Treat Persons by Samuel J. Kerstein
• CRISPR Babies – Episode #1
• Transcript