What actually is better? Gene editing poses real problems

I want to say at the outset that in the abstract I'm willing to be persuaded that we should use human genome editing technology to build better humans, but the problem for me is I've yet to hear what I would consider to be a really robust definition of better. I think what constitutes better in the minds of some is a function of where we are at this moment in time, and so in some sense it's a little bit of a fad. Today this is better, tomorrow something else is better. The other thing I haven't heard really is a really good argument that actually tells us why we should spend our time, talent, and treasure on this particular technology in pursuit of a reproductive goal of building better humans. So I want to be very clear about this. The time and talent of members of the scientific community and the resources that we have to invest in science are limited, and so we actually have to make decisions about where we want to make those investments. And that's why I want you to vote against this motion. I think there are better things we could be doing with our time, our talent, and our treasure. So let me just share with you what are the common arguments that are typically brought forward in support of the motion. One of them is the right to have genetically related children. It is said repeatedly that there are people, parents, prospective parents to be more precise, who are at risk of having a child with a serious genetic disease, perhaps even a lethal genetic condition. They want to have children. They have the right to have children. The second argument often brought forward is that we use enhancements all the time. Why think we should stop here? And the third argument, which you just recently heard, is that it's important for humans to take over the human evolutionary story in order to ensure our survival. Well, I want to very quickly go through these and show you why they're not persuasive. First of all, there is no right to have genetically related children. Saying doesn't make it so. There is in fact no international agreement in support of this claim. What there is, is a right to reproductive claims, but they are very specific. So when you hear the words reproductive rights, it's actually about the right of women to control their bodies, to control the timing, the spacing, the number of children that will make up their family. So it's really about access to things like contraceptives or termination of pregnancy. The second claim about we use enhancements all the time is in one sense very true. I mean, that's why we send our children to school. That's why some parents give them piano lessons because they've heard it helps with their math abilities. It's why we have things like cosmetic surgery. But I want to suggest that there's something fundamentally different in this context where you're actually tinkering with that which makes human life. And that's true whether you're talking about tinkering with the gametes or tinkering with the embryos. And the third point about taking over the human evolutionary story, well, I understand that in the context of what we're currently doing, which is wrecking our planet. And so there are people who imagine that there will come a time when we can't survive here because the water's polluted, the air is polluted, we've got problems with climate change, etc. And so they really are careful about looking at this as a design project. And so we need to redesign the human so that it can either survive on this planet and would be able, for example, to drink polluted water and not get sick. Or it's a design project where we have to get off of this planet. And we have to be able to survive on another planet or in a spaceship. And I really want to say, gosh, that seems a pretty extreme response when all we could do is not wreck this planet. And so what I want to say very clearly is it's important to understand that this is cool science, but we should be using science to build a better world for all of us. And I really worry that this ultimately will be a form of personalized medicine that will really promote the interests of a select few. And you and I probably won't be amongst that select few.