THINGS TO COME #2: Designer babies
According to tradition, Jesus was the first known designer baby. Therefore, this Christmas month, the central question is how humans intend to become equal with God—will they also reproduce asexually and design their own children? The development of genetic design has seen enormous growth in the past decade. Now that some key technologies have been realized, the question arises as to what consequences this entails. What should we be allowed to desire? And what should we want to be able to do?
In this episode of Things to Come (TTC), we look toward a future without restrictions. Artist and scientist Koert van Mensvoort will discuss the evolving blurring of the lines between human and product. He also raises the question of how new this development actually is. The second contribution will be by Antina de Jong (Maastricht University & Centre for Society and Genomics, Nijmegen). She will speak about the ethics of freedom of choice. From an ethical-scientific perspective, Cris van der Hoek (lecturer in Philosophy at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences and Utrecht University) reflects on the contributions of Van Mensvoort and De Jong.
There’s a formula for romance, fertility, and healthy offspring. It reveals the genetic match between two DNA profiles. After blind and online dating, DNA dating is the future. The TTC editors have sent a cheek swab to the Swiss company Genepartners, and we’ll share the results with you. But the public is participating too! With the new TTC voting system, the editors will interactively determine the public’s opinion on the future of their offspring.
Things To Come is Impakt’s new program series about the social, ethical, artistic and philosophical dimensions of emerging techno-social developments.
