ABSTRACT

This chapter draws on three examples–preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), non-invasive prenatal testing and CRISPR genome editing technologies–to provide an overview of the discussion of reprogenetics at the intersection of enhancement and eugenics. Parallels between PGD and eugenics have been drawn since the very introduction of PGD in assisted reproduction. Although medical genetics as a discipline has strived to distance itself from a history of gruesome eugenics by being non-directive in the context of reproduction, fears of eugenics remain central in both public and scholarly debates around reprogenetics. Contrary to conventional wisdom, eugenics programmes were not limited to Nazi Germany; they were carried out in France, Italy, South America, the United States and Scandinavia. In Italy, it is the influence of the Catholic church and the associated belief that human life starts at conception that have had a major influence on the drafting of strict legislation against 'eugenics' programmes.