NaturalNews)
The popular 1997 science fiction film Gattaca portrays a futuristic world in which human beings genetically engineered (GE) with certain desirable and superior genetic traits are given preference to natural-born human beings who are considered inferior. And in just 15 years since the release of the film, this scenario has become a reality, as modern science has come up with a new way to test unborn babies for roughly 3,500 so-called genetic "defects."
The U.K.'s Telegraph reports that a team of researchers from the University of Washington (UW) in Seattle has contrived a method of examining the genetic code of unborn babies via blood samples taken from their mothers, and saliva samples taken from their fathers. The tiny amounts of free-floating DNA present in both samples allow researchers to essentially map the entire genetic code of unborn babies and determine which genetic traits they will have upon birth.
Some babies are born naturally with "de novo" mutations, which are said to be linked to genetic defects such as Down syndrome and cystic fibrosis. These mutations are typically not passed down from parents to their children, and are instead acquired in some other way, including potentially through vaccinations and toxic environmental exposures.
In 39 out of 44 tested cases, the UW researchers were able to accurately pinpoint prior to birth de novo mutations that would occur in babies after birth. And as the technology becomes widely available to parents in the near future, the ghastly scenario depicted in the movie Gattaca will evolve into an ever-present reality where the only unborn babies permitted to live and thrive will be those with "superior" genetic makeups.
"This work opens up the possibility that we will be able to scan the whole genome of the fetus for more than 3,000 single-gene disorders through a single, non-invasive test," said Dr. Jay Shendure, lead scientist for the research published in the journal . His entire team, however, corporately added that "incorporating this level of information into prenatal decision-making raises many ethical questions that must be considered carefully within the scientific community and on a societal level."
Genetic screening will lead to more abortions, more eugenics, and a culture of genetic class suppression
When science starts openly tampering with human life based on subjective perceptions of which genetic traits are desirable and which are not desirable, there is no stopping the pandora's box of population control techniques that will surely ensue. Parents seeking the "perfect" child, for instance, will be more likely to simply abort a child with genetic "errors" and keep trying until they get the one they want.
As government-run healthcare emerges into full reality, state-controlled doctors may begin telling parents that they are not allowed to have an imperfect child because treating that child's inevitable genetic conditions will cost the state too much money. Forced abortions, in other words, could become the norm if genetic testing techniques like the ones developed at UW become widespread.
And ultimately, the breeding of genetically "superior" children will more than likely lead to a genetically superior class of humans that looks down on those with inferior genetic traits. This is exactly what occurred in the movie Gattaca, as "inferior" humans with natural imperfections were denied jobs and treated like second-class citizens.
Instead, researchers should be looking for ways to eliminate the thousands of untested chemicals that are added to the food supply (
http://www.naturalnews.com/035680_food_packaging_chemicals_PFOA.html), remove toxic fluoride chemicals from water supplies (http://www.fluoridealert.org/downs-syndrome.htm), and end the administration of gene-tampering vaccines to young children (http://www.naturalnews.com/033062_Rupert_Murdoch_Andrew_Wakefield.html).
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