Should We Edit the Human Genome?

Published on October 14, 2026 7:25 AM GMT Crossposted from my substack. Procreative Beneficence and Genetic Enhancement 1. Introduction Imagine a world where everyone is healthy, intelligent, long living and happy. Intuitively this seems wonderful albeit unrealistic. However, recent scientific developments in genetic engineering, namely CRISPR/Cas bring the question into public discourse, how the genetic enhancement of humans should be evaluated morally. In 2001, when preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) and in vitro fertilisation (IVF), enabled parents to select between multiple embryos, Julian Savulescu introduced the principle of procreative beneficence (PPB), arguing that parents have the obligations to choose the child that is expected to have the best life [11]. In this essay I argue that accepting the PPB and the consequentialist principle (CP) that two acts with the same consequences are morally on par, commits one to accepting the parental obligation to genetically enhance their prospective children, i.e. embryos, a position Savulescu doesn’t explicitly endorse but I argue is committed too. As the argument I provide may seem like a slippery slope, the largest part of this essay is tasked with responding to a multitude of possible objections. I will argue that even though there are differences between the application of PPB and genetic enhancement of embryos, they do not demarcate a relevant moral difference between the two in respect to their obligatoriness. This essay is structured as follows. In Section 2 I define and explicate various concepts that are related to genetic enhancement, i.e. human enhancement, wellbeing and the principle of procreative beneficence. Technological specifics and explanations of how genetic enhancements work will for the most part be omitted in this paper dealing purely with a normative question, i.e. should parents genetically enhance their children if the technology was available. In Section 3 I formulate and explain the argument that those who want to be parents have the obligation to genetically enhance their embryos. In Section 4 I anticipate and evaluate a number of possible objections including, inequality, freedom and welfare in the society. In Section 5 I conclude that even though the consequences of the PPB application and genetic enhancements in embryos might require different kinds of policies, these differences do not provide sufficient reason to give the application of PPB and the parents using genetic enhancements on their embryos a different moral standing. 2. Important concepts According to Savulescu, Sandberg and Kahane there are two main senses in which the term enhancement is used. “Functional enhancement, the enhancement of some capacity or power (e.g. vision, intelligence, health) and human enhancement, the enhancement of a human being’s life” [10,: p. 3]. In most discussions surrounding the term enhancement, people refer to the functional definition. In all cases of the functional enhancements it is an open question whether the improvement of some capacity makes the life of the person receiving the enhancement actually better. It, therefore, is an open question what the moral stance on any particular form of enhancement is. However, proponents of enhancements usually use the latter definition. After all, Savulescu argues, it is not “disease [...] which is important, but its impact on a life in ways that matter which is important. People often trade length of life for non-health related well-being” [11; p. 419]. The concept of human enhancement, employed by Savulescu and others, is comparatively less straightforward and requires further clarification as it is crucial for my argument. Savulescu, Sandberg and Kahane jointly propose the following definition for human enhancement; “[a]ny change in the biology or psychology of a person which increases the chances of leading a good life in the relevant set of circumstances” [10; p. 7]. According to this welfarist definition, a conception of normality is not needed to define enhancement as we do not define an enhancement as being better than normal, but simply being better full stop. Medical treatments are therefore just a form of enhancements [10; p. 8]. Opponents of enhancements, on the other hand are trying to argue that enhancing is something going beyond treatment and is therefore not morally demanded. The welfarist definition of enhancement is crucial to understand why parents have the obligation to genetically enhance their children. Those who disagree because of adherence to a different account of enhancement are talking about something different. If a genetic alteration in an embryo is not expected to lead to a better life of that human, than it is simply not an enhancement. Furthermore, it is important to explicate the principle of procreative beneficence (PPB): “Couples (or single reproducers) should select the child, of the possible children they could have, who is expected to have the b