![EUGENICS [from Greek word eu (good or well) and the suffix -genēs (born)]
Eugenics is the "applied science or the biosocial movement which advocates the use of practices aimed at improving
the genetic composition of a population,"
In Germany, interest in eugenics flourished after the turn of the century when Dr. Alfred Ploetz founded the
Archives of Race-Theory and Social Biology in 1904 and the German Society of Racial Hygiene in 1905. The
German term Rassenhygiene or race hygiene was broader than the word eugenics; it included all attempts at
improving hereditary qualities as well as measures directed at population increase (III, Weiss 1987). By the 1920s
various German textbooks incorporated ideas of heredity and racial hygiene, and German professors were
participating in the international eugenics movement. The Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Anthropology,Human
Heredity, and Eugenics was founded in 1927; by 1933 a sterilization law which had been entitled "Eugenics in the
service of public welfare" indicated compulsory sterilization "for the prevention of progeny with hereditary defects"
in cases of "congenitalmental defects,schizophrenia, manic-depressive psychosis,hereditary epilepsy... and severe
alcoholism." (III, Müller-Hill 1988, p. 10).
The co-mingling of science, politics, and Weltanschauung (ideological or religious world view) caused the darkest
period for eugenics when Nazi Germans embarked on their "final solution" to the Jewish question,or the Holocaust.
The Nazi racial hygiene program began with involuntary sterilizations and ended with genocide. Beginning with the
1933 Law for the Prevention of Congenitally Ill Progeny, 350,000 schizophrenics and mentally ill were involuntarily
sterilized, and marriage or sexual contact between Jews and other Germans was banned.A few hundred black
children and 30,000 German Gypsies were sterilized. By 1945, when the Allies liberated those remaining in Nazi
concentration camps, six million Jews, 750,000 Gypsies, and 70,000 German psychiatric patients had been killed by
the Nazis (III, Müller-Hill 1992, p. 47). After the German experience, eugenic thought was at its nadir, and to the
present,the term "eugenics" invokes a sense ofhorror in some people.
Great Britain, the United States and Germany were the countries most involved with eugenic science in the first half
of this century, but interest was always present in Europe and other parts of the world. Argentina, Austria, Brazil,
Canada, China, Finland, France, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Norway and Sweden had eugenics movements of their own.
With the rise of new genetic technologies,and the technical ability to change an individual's genetic heritage,
eugenics is once again a topic both discussed and written about throughout the world.
Since World War II, interest in the type of eugenics popular in the early half of the century has changed.Utilizing
gene therapy,genetic testing and screening,and genetic counseling,scientists and clinicians use knowledge of
inherited disease or other genetic problems to change (for the better) those persons who can be assisted.Still,
questions are raised about the morality of changing human genes,the wisdom of acting when no cure is available, or
the legality of breaching a patient's genetic confidentiality. Most geneticists and other health professionals think th at
to proscribe any genetic intervention would be wrong since people "need and deserve to have whatever information
may be available concerning genetic risks, genetic disorders,and modes of treatment" even if problems may be
inherent in genetic screening, counseling or therapy (I, Kevles 1985, p. 291).
Concepts central to the old eugenics have not completely disappeared: recent Chinese law, the Law on Maternal an d
Infant Health Care, which took effect June 1, 1995, requires premarital checkups to determine whether either partner
carries "genetic diseases of a serious nature",infectious diseases (AIDS, gonorrhea,syphilis and leprosy), or a
"relevant mental disease." The law stipulates that marriages will be permitted only after the couple has been
sterilized (IV, Tomlinson 1994, p. 1319). In speaking of the then draft legislation in 1993, a health minister cited
statistics showing that China "now has more than ten million disabled persons who could have been prevented
through better controls" (V, Tyler 1993, p. A9).
Georgetown University (USA)
http://bioethics.georgetown.edu/publications/scopenotes/sn28.htm#tyler](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/eugenicspaper-101129073604-phpapp02/85/Eugenics-Paper-Summary-1-320.jpg)
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Eugenics Paper Summary
- 1. EUGENICS [from Greek word eu (good or well) and the suffix -genēs (born)] Eugenics is the "applied science or the biosocial movement which advocates the use of practices aimed at improving the genetic composition of a population," In Germany, interest in eugenics flourished after the turn of the century when Dr. Alfred Ploetz founded the Archives of Race-Theory and Social Biology in 1904 and the German Society of Racial Hygiene in 1905. The German term Rassenhygiene or race hygiene was broader than the word eugenics; it included all attempts at improving hereditary qualities as well as measures directed at population increase (III, Weiss 1987). By the 1920s various German textbooks incorporated ideas of heredity and racial hygiene, and German professors were participating in the international eugenics movement. The Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Anthropology,Human Heredity, and Eugenics was founded in 1927; by 1933 a sterilization law which had been entitled "Eugenics in the service of public welfare" indicated compulsory sterilization "for the prevention of progeny with hereditary defects" in cases of "congenitalmental defects,schizophrenia, manic-depressive psychosis,hereditary epilepsy... and severe alcoholism." (III, Müller-Hill 1988, p. 10). The co-mingling of science, politics, and Weltanschauung (ideological or religious world view) caused the darkest period for eugenics when Nazi Germans embarked on their "final solution" to the Jewish question,or the Holocaust. The Nazi racial hygiene program began with involuntary sterilizations and ended with genocide. Beginning with the 1933 Law for the Prevention of Congenitally Ill Progeny, 350,000 schizophrenics and mentally ill were involuntarily sterilized, and marriage or sexual contact between Jews and other Germans was banned.A few hundred black children and 30,000 German Gypsies were sterilized. By 1945, when the Allies liberated those remaining in Nazi concentration camps, six million Jews, 750,000 Gypsies, and 70,000 German psychiatric patients had been killed by the Nazis (III, Müller-Hill 1992, p. 47). After the German experience, eugenic thought was at its nadir, and to the present,the term "eugenics" invokes a sense ofhorror in some people. Great Britain, the United States and Germany were the countries most involved with eugenic science in the first half of this century, but interest was always present in Europe and other parts of the world. Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, Finland, France, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Norway and Sweden had eugenics movements of their own. With the rise of new genetic technologies,and the technical ability to change an individual's genetic heritage, eugenics is once again a topic both discussed and written about throughout the world. Since World War II, interest in the type of eugenics popular in the early half of the century has changed.Utilizing gene therapy,genetic testing and screening,and genetic counseling,scientists and clinicians use knowledge of inherited disease or other genetic problems to change (for the better) those persons who can be assisted.Still, questions are raised about the morality of changing human genes,the wisdom of acting when no cure is available, or the legality of breaching a patient's genetic confidentiality. Most geneticists and other health professionals think th at to proscribe any genetic intervention would be wrong since people "need and deserve to have whatever information may be available concerning genetic risks, genetic disorders,and modes of treatment" even if problems may be inherent in genetic screening, counseling or therapy (I, Kevles 1985, p. 291). Concepts central to the old eugenics have not completely disappeared: recent Chinese law, the Law on Maternal an d Infant Health Care, which took effect June 1, 1995, requires premarital checkups to determine whether either partner carries "genetic diseases of a serious nature",infectious diseases (AIDS, gonorrhea,syphilis and leprosy), or a "relevant mental disease." The law stipulates that marriages will be permitted only after the couple has been sterilized (IV, Tomlinson 1994, p. 1319). In speaking of the then draft legislation in 1993, a health minister cited statistics showing that China "now has more than ten million disabled persons who could have been prevented through better controls" (V, Tyler 1993, p. A9). Georgetown University (USA) http://bioethics.georgetown.edu/publications/scopenotes/sn28.htm#tyler
- 2. Summary Paragraph 1 Eugenicsemergedin1904 inGermanwitha mannamedDr. AlfredPloetzwhoworkedtowardsthe improvementof racial hygiene inGermansocietysuchasheredityqualitiesandpopulationincrease.As a resultof this,in1933 a sterilizationlaw wasputintoeffecttopreventheredityandmental defects Paragraph 2 Thisparagraph showsthe interactionbetweenscience andpoliticsinthe 1940s and specifichistorical evidence of moral andethical issuesof Eugenicsbasedonthe genocide of Jewsandinvoluntary sterilization Paragraph 3 The globalizationof Eugenicsandwhere itwasspreadthroughoutthe worldandwhyitwasso widely spread Paragraph 4 It ismai9nalyaboutthe moral issue of changinggenesinhumanbodies.Itisarguedthatchanging humangenes isgoodby gene therapy.Mosthealthprofessionalsthinkthattoproscribe anygenetic interventioniswrong Paragraph 5 Eugenicsisstill practicedtodayforthe same purpose itwas designedforin1950’s the modificationof the humangenome throughselective genome toeliminateundesirable qualities.Forexample,Chinese law(1995) requiresengagedcouplestohave geneticcheckups.