Genetic Essentialisim!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There is no history or continuity that we can point to with respect to embryo’s who thinks that this conception “can be of little help in determining embryonic identity through genetic alteration.” He therefore seeks to find an alternative viewpoint on identity that he can apply to the issue of embryonic identity. To begin this search Zohar considers the tale of the ship of Theseus his contention that “what primarily characterizes this ship is the particulars of how it runs, how it specifically functions as a ship." His claim is that the fact that we consider the ship to be the same ship despite the replacement of parts of it “is grounded in the primacy of functional organization.”He then goes on to suggest that if the ship was a self constructing unit with its own built in blueprints, then these blueprints would be central to its identity. This he claims is similar genetic makeup; “is not genetic makeup such an enhanced set of blueprints.”He does however acknowledge that in postnatal humans that while geneotype is an important part of a persons identity it is not the only one. This is not the case he claims with embryo’s “at the embryonic stage, all we have to go by is the genotype. If there is any sense at all in which considering the embryo’s existence to be the beginning (or: origin) of a particular human life, then it surely comes down to the fact that once the genotype has been specified, personal identity has been significantly determined.”It is Zohars claim that what is the important and relevant factor for embryonic identity is a persons genome.

Is there any realtionship in Gene Therapy and Disability????

Consider a world in which gene therapy is a simple, effective and safe process. Alterations to either somatic cells or the germ-line consist of little more than a trip to the hospital to receive an injection of the appropriate gene and vector. A couple go to their local physician for genetic screening before attempting to conceive a child. They are told that the screening has detected an ‘abnormality'in their genetic makeup that will mean any child they produce will be profoundly deaf from birth. The physician then offers the couple germ-line therapy to correct the problem, allowing them to have children who will not be deaf. It appears straightforward to most of us that the couple should undergo the genetic treatment. It seems that it is preferable, for the child that the parents have a child who is not deaf, than to have one that is. This is Harris view. According to Harris, “everyone should be discouraged from reproducing children who will be significantly harmed by their genetic constitution.