Genetic Genocide
George J. Annas
George Annas JD
2010

This chapter (in Worst Case Bioethics) discusses the new genetics in the context of the health and human rights framework which emphasizes the equality of all members of the human species, and further argues that it is reasonable and responsible to oppose inheritable genetic alterations on the basis that they endanger the entire human species, risking "genetic genocide," and that therefore no individual, government, or corporation has the moral warrant to apply human genetic modification technology in the absence of a credible international democratic agreement. The chapter defends the following proposition:  "It is the potential for genocide based on genetic difference that makes species-altering genetic engineering a potential weapon of mass destruction, and makes the unaccountable genetic engineer a potential bioterrorist."