Race biology.

BACKGROUND: The founders of Hereditas envisioned that race biology would be a major subject that had social applications with utmost importance in the near future. Anthropometrics was in this context understood to be the pure and eugenics the applied science. Sweden had a long tradition in physical anthropometry. Herman Lundborg, member of the advisory board of Hereditas, united the anthropometric and eugenic approaches in a synthesis. He was the first head of the Institute for Race Biology in Sweden. The contents of Hereditas reflect the development of race biology in the Nordic countries. CONCLUSIONS: The initial enthusiasm for applied race biology did not last long. In the 1920's Hereditas carried papers on both physical anthropology and eugenics. Most paper dealt, however, with human genetics without eugenic content. Two papers, published in 1921 and 1939 show how the intellectual climate had changed from positive to negative. Finally only human genetics prevailed as the legitimate study of the human race or humankind. A belated defense of eugenics published in 1951 did not help; geneticists had abandoned anthropometrics for good around the year 1940 and eugenics about a decade later. In spite of that, eugenic legislation was amended astonishingly late, in the 1970's. The development was essentially similar in all Nordic countries.

The Use and Misuse of Brave New World in the CRISPR Debate.

When writing about CRISPR and similar technologies, many bioethicists use science-fiction references to help readers picture the ramifications of germline gene editing. By a large margin, the most frequently referenced novel in this debate is Aldous Huxley's 1932 dystopia Brave New World. Despite its iconic status and effectiveness at communicating specific ethical issues, Brave New World provides relatively poor examples of interventions such as gene therapy or enhancement. In addition, the eugenic tropes that Huxley promotes in much of his work make Brave New World an uncomfortable choice for authors who oppose the use of CRISPR for illiberal purposes. Ethicists should consider bringing a wider variety of fiction references into the discourse on genome editing, especially stories that can complement Brave New World with insights about the ethical issues left undeveloped in Huxley's novel.

Should We Genetically Select for the Beauty Norm of Fair Skin?

Fair skin is often regarded as a beauty ideal in many parts of the world. Genetic selection for non-disease traits may allow reproducers to select fair skin for the purposes of beauty, and may be justified under various procreative principles. In this paper I assess the ethics of genetic selection for fair skin as a beauty feature. In particular, I explore the discriminatory aspects and demands of such selection. Using race and colour hierarchies that many would find objectionable, I argue that selection for beauty that is underpinned by such hierarchies is not a trivial selection. Given this, I claim that we should not make such selections.

Medicina y futuro biológico de la humanidad: de Andrés Laguna al Siglo XXI / Medicine and the biological future of humankind: from Andrés Laguna to the XXI century

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Epigenetics ELSI: Darker Than You Think?

Emerging ethical, legal, and social implications (ELSI) scholarship in epigenetics has focused largely on hypothetical issues involving institutional racism, discrimination, and eugenics. To avoid an unwarranted backlash against this promising research field, we encourage a more balanced ELSI discussion conveying the full spectrum of issues faced by stakeholders.

Genetic modification of the human germ line: The reasons why this project has no future.

Modification of the human germ line has remained a distant but valuable objective for most biologists since the emergence of genetics (and even before). To study the historical transformations of this project, I have selected three periods - the 1930s, at the pinnacle of eugenics, around 1974 when molecular biology triumphed, and today - and have adopted three criteria to estimate the feasibility of this project: the state of scientific knowledge, the existence of suitable tools, and societal demands. Although the long-awaited techniques to modify the germ line are now available, I will show that most of the expectations behind this project have disappeared, or are considered as being reachable by highly different strategies.

Diabetes and "defective" genes in the twentieth-century United States.

In the decades following the discovery of insulin, eugenicists grew concerned that more diabetics would survive into their reproductive years and contribute "defective" genes to the gene pool. Insulin thus came to be seen as both a blessing for the individual and a problem for the future of humankind. Nevertheless, diabetics in the United States were neither prevented nor discouraged from reproducing. I argue that this stemmed from the widespread belief that diabetes was a disease primarily of middle-class whites, who possessed positive traits that outweighed their particular genetic defect. Historians of eugenics have demonstrated convincingly that race and class stereotypes made some populations more vulnerable to coercive eugenic practices. The case of diabetes demonstrates that race and class stereotypes could also confer protection. In the end, possession of a defective gene mattered less than the perception of one's contribution to society.

De plantas y hombre: cómo los genetistas se vincularon a la eugenesia en Brasil (un estudio de caso 1929-1933) / Of plants and men: how geneticists were linked to eugenics in Brazil (1929-1933)

En el presente artículo pretendemos reflexionar sobre la trayectoria de Octávio Domingues (1897-1972) y Salvador Toledo Piza Jr. (1898-1988), dos genetistas de una escuela agrícola del Estado de São Paulo que se vincularon al principal propagador de la eugenesia en Brasil, Renato Kehl (1889-1974). Ese acercamiento se concretó en su asociación alrededor de la publicación del Boletim de Eugenia, importante vehículo de divulgación del movimiento eugenésico entre los años 1929 y 1933. A partir del análisis de esa publicación periódica, ha sido posible detectar que, aunque los dos partían de la teoría mendeliana de la herencia, Toledo Piza Jr. consideraba el mestizaje de la población brasileña como algo que iba en contra de la naturaleza, mientras que Octávio Domingues la juzgaba saludable (AU)

The aim of this article is to analyse the trajectory of Octávio Domingues (1897-1972) and Salvador de Toledo Piza Jr. (1898-1988), two geneticists in the Agricultural School of São Paulo State, who engaged with the main propagandist for the eugenics in Brazil, Renato Kehl (1889-1974). This approach is embodied in its association surrounding the publication of the Boletim de Eugenia, an important vehicle for the dissemination of the eugenics movement between the years 1929 and 1933. From the analysis of this journal, it was possible to detect that even sharing both Mendelian theory of heredity, Toledo Piza Jr. considered miscegenation of the Brazilian population as something against nature, while Octávio Domingues judged it healthy (AU)

Una dialógica desestabilizadora del orden social y sexual: el médico argentino Juan Lazarte en la Revista Anarquista Estudios (1932-1936) / A destabolizing dialogics of social and sexual order: the argentinian physician Juan Lazarte in the anarchist magazine estudios (1932-1936)

En este trabajo analizamos los artículos del médico argentino Juan Lazarte publicados en la revista Estudios en los años 30 del siglo XX. Este hecho se produjo en el marco de una política editorial que pretendía superar la exclusión a que eran sometidos los discursos de oposición al orden social establecido. La práctica discursiva analizada se desarrolló sobre una dialógica en torno a las propuestas neomaltusianas y eugenésicas y a las causas históricas de unas relaciones sociales generizadas que estructuraban una doble moral sexual. Lazarte usó diversas formas de intertextualidad y señaló la compatibilidad de planteamientos que se mostraban opuestos en apariencia, sin obviar las diferencias, evitando los debates en términos dicotómicos. Esta praxis hizo posible un uso táctico de la retórica eugenésica en la propuesta neomaltusiana con la que se pretendía que la especie humana alcanzase un estado de buen vivir. Al no concebir la historia desde una ideología del progreso, y empeñarse en considerar los distintos aspectos de los problemas (biológicos, económicos y culturales), el discurso de Lazarte en Estudios contribuía a conformar un mundo que desafiaba los supuestos de un biopoder determinista, constituyéndose en un poder desestabilizador del orden sexual y social (AU)

In this paper we analyze the articles published by Argentinean physician Juan Larzarte in the magazine Estudios in the 1930s. This took place within a publishing policy aimed at overcoming the exclusion of discourses opposing the established social order. The discourse practices we explore were dialogic while focusing on neo-Malthusian and eugenic propositions and the historical causes of a gendered social relations structuring a double sexual morals. Lazarte used several forms of intertextuality and suggested the compatibility of seemingly opposed approaches without getting round the differences and avoiding debates in dichotomic terms. These practices allowed the strategic use of eugenic rhetoric within the neo-Malthusian proposition aimed at the human species to reach a state of good living. As he did not consider history from an ideology of progress, and insisted on taking into account the different facets of any issue (biological, economic and cultural), Lazarte’s discourse in Estudios contributed to configure a world defying the assumptions of a deterministic biopower, thus becoming a destabilizing power regarding the sexual and social order (AU)

Cirugías fingidas en los Andes. A propósito de un pequeño corpus documental / Shammed surgeries in the Andes: concerning a small documental corpus

Si bien los pueblos andinos contemporáneos muestran un marcado rechazo a las intervenciones quirúrgicas por diversas razones de índole cultural, encontramos en los relatos coloniales de los siglos XVI y XVII descripciones que aluden a la expresión formal de cirugías simbólicas, bajo trance, que persiguen la extracción corporal de los objetos y sustancias que materializan la enfermedad. El artículo analiza varias de estas intervenciones fingidas comparándolas con las actuales estrategias terapéuticas de corte chamánico que realizan los curanderos andinos (AU)

Even when contemporary Andean peoples show a strong rejection to surgical interventions due to cultural reasons, in 16th- and 17th-century colonial sources we find acounts that describe the formal expression of symbolic surgical interventions (carried out while in trance) that aim to extract from the body those objects and substances that materialize the ailment. This article analyzes some of these mock interventions and compares them with current shamanic therapeutical strategies carried out by Andean healers (AU)

Transumanismo e o futuro (pós-)humano / Transhumanism and the (post)human future

O transumanismo é uma controversa perspectiva de investimento na transformação da condição humana. Visando ao melhoramento biotecnológico da natureza humana, ele protagoniza o debate acerca do futuro (pós-)humano. Na base da concepção transumanista está o investimento na biotecnociência como um modo de Iluminismo humanista de raízes biológicas. O objetivo do artigo é analisar o debate sobre o futuro da humanidade. Para tanto, apresentamos a perspectiva transumanista, ressaltando definições, características, valores e principais argumentos, analisando o conceito de natureza humana, pois ele é fundamental na polarizada discussão travada entre os transumanistas e bioconservadores. Nossas principais conclusões apontam para a impertinência dessa polarização, bem como do uso do conceito de natureza humana e pós-humano para esclarecer o tema do melhoramento humano. Assim, cumpre despolarizar o debate e apostar otimista e prudentemente no futuro biotecnológico...

Transhumanism is a controversial perspective of the investment in transformation of the human condition. Targeting at biotechnological human nature enhancement, it emerges as one of the protagonists in the debate about the (post)human future. At the base transhumanist conception is the investment on the biotechnoscience as a humanistic iluminism of biological roots. This paper aims to analyze the debate about the future of humanity. To this end, we present the transhumanist perspective, highlighting definitions, characteristics, values, and main arguments, analyzing the concept of human nature, for it is fundamental in the polarized discussion between the transhumanists and bioconservatives. Our main conclusions indicate the impertinence of the polarization, as well as the use of the concept of human nature and post-human to clarify the theme of human enhancement. Thus, we must depolarize the debate and bet optimistically and prudently in the biotechnological future...