ABSTRACT
Future technologies for genetic therapies and elimination of clearly deleterious genes offer us the ability to get rid of the cause of much human suffering, seemingly at its physiological root. The availability of cochlear implants for deaf children has sparked the debate about the future of the Deaf community, and it will surely only be enflamed by the possibility of genetically engineering to avoid some forms of deafness. Most hearing people consider deafness to be a defect, a physiological problem that deserves medical attention if and when it is available. But at least a segment of the Deaf community values their physiology as different but equal to that of hearing people, and they may argue that the only reason that deafness confers any disadvantage in society (when it does), is because of unfair societal discrimination and the fact that society is set up for the benefit of the hearing.
