Creating Superhumans, Disrupting Human Nature

Can Genome Editing Endanger Our Species?

Abstract

Advances in biotechnology will soon enable editing the DNA of our future children, which raises multiple concerns. This paper examines two common concerns: that genetic enhancement may create biologically distinct “superhumans” who might outcompete ordinary humans or cause a societal collapse, and that modifying the human genome might “disrupt human nature”, leading to the loss of our humanness. While these concerns appear distinct, both ultimately fear that genome editing may create individuals who can no longer be identified as “human” endangering humanity as we know it, and thus both view genome editing as an existential threat. This paper critically evaluates these concerns by examining the feasibility of the envisioned scenarios, arguing that the emergence of a distinct superhuman species is highly unlikely as it would require reproductive isolation achievable only through strictly controlled reproduction, while the emergence of people with enhanced traits might not necessarily convert into a societal catastrophe. Likewise, human nature is unlikely to be fundamentally altered by genome editing without extreme reproductive control, while the genome alone does not define human nature that has significantly evolved throughout human history. Since both feared scenarios would require a dystopian level of reproductive control rather than the mere availability of genome editing, I conclude by discussing the use of extreme totalitarian scenarios in guiding genome editing policy. This paper contributes to the debate on human genetic enhancement by challenging two common existential concerns and advocating for evidence-based ethical and policy deliberations.