EUGENICS
EUGENICS
(from Greek eugenes - noble)
the doctrine created by Francis Galton and going back to Plato’s Republic about the conditions under which offspring are born that are successful in their physical and spiritual characteristics, and the birth of an unsuccessful generation is prevented.
Philosophical Encyclopedic Dictionary. 2010 .
EUGENICS
EUGENICS - a set of social and political measures aimed at improving the hereditary characteristics of human populations.
The term “eugenics” was proposed in 1883 by Francis Galton. According to him, eugenics is one that is designed to develop methods of social control that “may correct or improve the racial qualities of future generations, both physical and intellectual” (Galton F. Inquines Into the Human Faculty L, 1883, p. 44).
In the 1st half. 20th century Eugenics ideas gave rise to influential scientific and political influences. Many prominent biologists, supporters of eugenics, acted as consultants to the governments of various countries on issues of emigration, abortion, sterilization, psychiatric care, education, etc. According to supporters of eugenics, in modern society, through the development of medicine, social support for the disabled and improvement the quality of life of natural selection weakened, resulting in the danger of racial degeneration. “Subnormal” individuals participate in reproduction, polluting the gene pool of the nation with “poor quality genes.” Eugenic methods are aimed at stopping the genetic population.
There are negative and positive eugenics. Negative eugenics involves depriving inferior citizens of the opportunity to procreate and inherit “subnormal” genes. Positive eugenics aims to provide advantages (eg financial) for the reproduction of the most physically or intellectually gifted. Historically, alcoholics, psychiatric patients, drug addicts, patients with syphilis, criminals, “sexual perverts,” etc. were considered the main objects of negative eugenics. The first forced sterilization was adopted in 1907 in the state of Indiana (USA). Sterilization was permitted on genetic grounds. Later, similar laws were passed in almost thirty US states. In total, about 50,000 cases of forced sterilization were recorded in the United States before World War II. At that time, many American states introduced laws prohibiting interracial marriage on eugenic grounds. A person was considered a “negro” if he had only 1/32 “negro blood.” Thus, a more rigid racial definition was used than that used to determine “non-Aryan origin” in Nazi Germany, where a “Jew” was recognized as having more “Jewish blood.” Eugenics programs, including methods of forced sterilization, also existed in Canada and many Western European countries.
The ideas of eugenics had a significant influence on the formation of fascist racial theory. German specialists in the field of eugenics introduced “genetic health” to the nation, and also developed a specialized branch of preventive medicine - “racial hygiene”. In 1933, the “Law for the Protection of Offspring from Genetic Diseases” was passed, the application of which led to more than 350,000 cases of forced sterilization before the collapse of Nazi Germany. Genetic counseling in Nazi Germany was a prerequisite for permission to join.
After World War II, the ideas of eugenics were discredited for a long time. A new wave of discussion of the problems of eugenics (and related concerns) is emerging and intensifying in connection with the rapid progress of molecular genetics in recent decades, in particular, with the possibilities and prospects for detecting at the stage of embryonic development and even at pre-embryonic stages many genetically determined diseases and defects. IN last years Eugenics as a public policy develops in Singapore. It aims to stimulate fertility among educated women and among uneducated women. Certain eugenic activities are also legalized in Japan and China. Eugenic research (often acting as an integral part of social hygiene) actively developed in the USSR in the 1920s and the beginning. 1930s, including such prominent scientists as N. Koltsov and Yu. Filipchenko. However, in the USSR, eugenics never became part of state policy. Moreover, in the 1930s. During the ideological pressure on genetics that began, it was actually banned. Nevertheless, the ideas of eugenics (for example, medical genetic consultation rooms) entered the arsenal of modern medical genetics. Violent measures and coercion became especially acute in eugenics. Not all eugenicists were supporters of such measures. Thus, British eugenicists promoted the ideas of voluntary eugenic activities. From the point of view of conservative liberals, an action can be considered free (that is, not containing signs of coercion) if there are no legal or other formal (for example, administrative) barriers to its choice and implementation. Within the socialist framework, it is believed that there is no coercion when a person practically has to agree or refuse to carry out a certain action.
In the United States and Western Europe, the goals of medical genetics are now shifting from serving the interests of the population to more fully taking into account the interests and values of individual patients and their families. What emerges is what R. Wright called “homemade eugenics.” At the same time, social and economic forces of coercion, which can significantly influence the formally free personal life of individuals, must be responsibly used and controlled. The mass “fabrication” of children with genetic qualities voluntarily chosen by their parents bears the mark not only of personal preferences, but also of the pressure of certain economic and social factors. Problem for modern society is that these factors can be regulated based on the benefit of the population, or, conversely, they can be manipulated in corporate and group interests.
Lit.: Filipchenko Yu. A. Ways to improve the human race (eugenics). L., 1924; Chan S. K. Eugenics on the Rise: A Report From Singapore. - In the book; Ethics, Reproduction and Genetic Control, ed. by R.F. Chadwick. L.-N.Y., 1987, p. 164-172; Nelkin D. Tanwedi L. Dangereuse Diagnostics. The Social Pour of Biological Information. N. Y, 1989; Levantin R. C. Biology as Ideology: The Doctrine of DNA. N.Y., 1992; Are Genes US? Thé Social Consequences of the New Genetics, ed by C. F. Cranor. New Bruswick-New Jersey. 1994, p. 155-180; Herrnstain R. ], Murray Ch. Thé Beîl Curve Wars. Race, Intelligence and the Future of America. N. Y, 1995.
P. D. Tishchenko
New Philosophical Encyclopedia: In 4 vols. M.: Thought. Edited by V. S. Stepin. 2001 .
See what "EUGENICA" is in other dictionaries:
- [Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language
EUGENICS- (from the Greek she is good and gen nos genus), as defined by its founder Galton, “the discipline that studies which factors improve and which worsen the innate qualities of the race.” E. is based on the study of the laws of heredity, genetics (see) ... ... Great Medical Encyclopedia
Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
- (from the Greek eugenes purebred) improvement of the human species through control of the gene pool, author F. Galton. One of the main tasks is to increase the birth rate of gifted people. The main developments are carried out in the following directions: ... ... Psychological Dictionary
EUGENICS, a discipline dedicated to the improvement of the human race through SELECTION, created in the 19th century. Francis GALTON. He proposed to “improve” the human race by establishing social control over marriage and encouraging parents to... ... Scientific and technical encyclopedic dictionary
- (from the Greek eugenes of good kind) a theory about the hereditary health of a person and ways to improve it. The principles of eugenics were first formulated by F. Galton (1869), who proposed studying influences that could improve hereditary qualities... ... Political science. Dictionary.
eugenics- EUGENICA (from the Greek eugenes of noble origin, purebred) the doctrine of improving the human “breed” by selection methods used in animal husbandry. The idea of E. itself is very ancient. For example, in “The State”... ... Encyclopedia of Epistemology and Philosophy of Science
Eugenics- (gr.eugenes asyl tқkymdy) adamnyң tұқym kualaushylyғy zhәne ony zhaksartu zholdary turaly adam geneticists men medical genetics koldanuda paidalanuga shakyratyn іlim.Evgenikanyң asіre bag yttars nasilshildik pen “aleumetik Darwinism” agymdaryn… … Philosophy terminerdin sozdigi
Eugenics- Eugenics ♦ Eugenisme The theory of improving the human race not through the education of individuals, but through selection or genetic manipulation. Eugenics relies more on changing the genotype of humanity than on the development of its cultural... ... Sponville's Philosophical Dictionary
- (from the Greek eugenes of good kind), a theory about the hereditary health of a person and ways to improve it. The principles of eugenics were first formulated by F. Galton (1869), who proposed studying influences that could improve hereditary... ... Modern encyclopedia
Eugenics(from the Greek ευγενες - “good kind”, “thoroughbred”) - the doctrine of artificial selection in relation to humans, as well as ways to improve his hereditary properties. The teaching is designed to combat the phenomena of degeneration in the human gene pool.
Eugenics was widely popular in the early decades of the 20th century, but later became associated with Nazi Germany, causing its reputation to suffer significantly. In the post-war period, eugenics fell in line with Nazi crimes such as racial hygiene, human experimentation, and the extermination of “undesirable” social groups. However, by the end of the 20th century, developments in genetics and reproductive technologies again raised questions about the meaning of eugenics and its ethical and moral status in the modern era.
In modern science, many problems of eugenics, especially the fight against hereditary diseases, are solved within the framework of human genetics.
Types of eugenics
There are “positive” and “negative” eugenics.
The goal of positive eugenics is to promote the reproduction of people with characteristics that are considered valuable to society (absence of hereditary diseases, good physical development, sometimes - high intelligence).
The goal of negative eugenics is to stop the reproduction of persons with hereditary defects, or those who are considered physically or mentally defective in a given society.
The “Russian Eugenics Society”, created in 1920, rejected negative eugenics and began to deal with the problems of positive eugenics.
The line between negative and positive eugenics is relative.
The world's major religions now condemn eugenics in general.
However, at the state level, eugenics is essentially applied, sometimes quite noticeably. Thus, in China and India, diagnosing the sex of the fetus is widely practiced and girls are often aborted. For example, according to Indian-Canadian studies, approximately half a million abortions (500 thousand) of female fetuses are performed annually with the connivance of the authorities in India. “There are 927 girls for every 1,000 boys under the age of 6 in this country. Globally, this ratio averages 1,050 girls to 1,000 boys.” This disrupts the natural ratio of boys and girls, which leads to negative consequences for society.
In essence, negative eugenics can be called any serial and/or mass forced removal from the human population of those who are perceived in a given society, for one reason or another, as undesirable.
Historical aspect
Ancient world
The basics of selection have been known to pastoral peoples since ancient times.
In Sparta, children who were recognized as inferior (this decision was made by the elders) according to one criterion or another were thrown alive into the abyss (although the Greek professor Theodoros Pitsios disputed this in 2007, based on the results of his archaeological research).
Plato wrote that children with defects or those born from defective parents should not be raised. Those who are defective, as well as victims of their own vices, must be denied medical care, and “moral degenerates” should be executed. On the other hand, an ideal society, according to Plato, is obliged to encourage temporary unions of selected men and women so that they leave high-quality offspring.
Among the peoples of the Far North, there was a widespread practice of killing physically handicapped newborns, as physically unable to survive in the harsh conditions of the tundra.
The birth of the concept of “eugenics”
The basic principles of eugenics were formulated by the English psychologist Francis Galton at the end of 1883. He proposed studying phenomena that could improve the hereditary qualities of future generations (giftedness, mental abilities, health). The first sketches of the theory were presented by him in 1865 in the article “Hereditary Talent and Character”, developed in more detail in the book “Inheritance of Talent” (“Hereditary Genius”, 1869).
In 1883, Galton introduced the concept of eugenics to refer to the scientific and practical activities of breeding improved varieties. cultivated plants and breeds of domestic animals, as well as for the protection and improvement of human heredity.
Galton was a racist and considered Africans inferior. In his book Tropical South Africa he wrote: “These savages are asking for slavery. Generally speaking, they have no independence; they follow their master like a spaniel.”
The weak nations of the world must inevitably give way to the nobler varieties of humanity...
Galton
He also believed that the poor and sick were not worthy of having offspring.
During the same period, the basic ideas of social Darwinism were formed, which had a strong influence on the mindset of philosophers of that time. F. Galton introduced the term “eugenics” in 1883, in his book “Inquiries into Human Faculty and Its Development”. In 1904, Galton defined eugenics as “the science concerned with all factors that improve the innate qualities of the race.”
Kellycott later defined eugenics as "the social control of human evolution."
XX century
Eugenic theories have become widespread in scientific circles different countries, and in some, eugenics was established at the state level: and their governments began to use it to “improve human qualities.” There, those who are recognized as harmful to society (tramps, alcoholics, “sexual deviants”) are subject to mandatory sterilization.
Similar programs were carried out in 1920-1950. and in several US states.
At the International Congress on Eugenics, which was held in New York in 1932, one of the eugenics scientists directly stated the following:
“There is no doubt that if the sterilization law were enforced to a greater extent in the United States, the result would be that in less than a hundred years we would have eliminated at least 90% of crime, insanity, imbecility, idiocy and sexual perversion, not to mention about many other forms of defectiveness and degeneration. Thus, within a century, our madhouses, prisons and mental hospitals would be almost cleared of their victims of human grief and suffering."
In some US states, the possibility of replacing life imprisonment with voluntary castration is still provided for persons who have committed sexual crimes.
In this case, castration plays both a punitive and preventive role.
In Europe, such castration was first carried out in 1925 in Denmark, by court decision.
From 1934 to 1976, a program of forced sterilization of “defective” people was carried out in Sweden.
Similar laws were in force in Norway and Finland, as well as Estonia and Switzerland.
In Nazi Germany (1933-1945), all “inferior persons” were subject to forced sterilization: Jews, gypsies, freaks, the mentally ill, homosexuals, communists, etc. Then it was decided that their physical destruction would be more appropriate.
Nazi eugenics programs were first carried out as part of the state program to “prevent the degeneration of the German people as representatives of the Aryan race,” and subsequently in the occupied territories of other countries as part of the Nazi “racial policy”:
Euthanasia program T-4 - the destruction of mental patients, and in general patients for more than 5 years, as incapacitated.
Destruction of homosexuals
Lebensborn - Conception and upbringing in orphanages of children from SS employees who have undergone racial selection, that is, not containing “impurities” of Jewish and generally non-Aryan blood in their ancestors.
"Final Solution to the Jewish Question" (total destruction)
Plan "Ost" - Seizure of eastern territories and "reduction" local population as belonging to an inferior race.
Eugenics and modernity
According to geneticist S.M. Gershenzon, due to the rapid development of genetics in general and genomics in particular, eugenics as an independent science has lost its meaning.
“Now eugenics is a thing of the past, and a very tarnished one at that. And the goals set for eugenics by its founders and not achieved by it have become completely the responsibility of medical genetics, which is quickly and successfully moving forward.”
Eugenics debate
Pros
IN developed countries ah, in practice the so-called genetic load. Incl. this is the result of the preservation of low-viability individuals (for example, when pregnant women are transferred to the “preservation” mode. During the natural process of pregnancy, part of the mutational disorders that arise are eliminated due to miscarriages; and when such a pregnancy is artificially maintained, the negative factor (i.e., the causative factor) is also preserved that same natural rejection).
The second reason for the increase in genetic load is the development of medicine, which allows individuals with significant congenital genetic anomalies or diseases to reach reproductive age. These diseases previously acted as an obstacle to the transmission of defective genetic material to subsequent generations. Due to these factors, the concept of eugenics in relation to humans is more relevant today than 100 years ago.
A way to reduce the genetic load, in addition to abortion, based on the results of tests, including amniotic fluid, is preventive counseling of parents in medical genetic centers.
Eugenic principles today are partially implemented in recommendations for desirable/unwanted pregnancy - so far such assessments are carried out on the basis of a survey and/or biotesting of only a small category of people included in the so-called. "risk group". Social compensation for persons who do not have a chance of having their own healthy offspring are methods of artificial insemination, as well as the institution of adoption.
Cons
The scientific reputation of eugenics was shaken in the 1930s, when eugenic rhetoric began to be used to justify the racial policies of the Third Reich. In the post-war period, the scientific community and the general public associated eugenics with the crimes of Nazi Germany. Konrad Lorenz, as a proponent of “practical” eugenics in Nazi Germany, was “persona non grata” in many countries after World War II. However, there were a number of regional and national governments that supported eugenics programs until the 1970s.
Prenatal diagnosis
Prenatal diagnosis can identify the presence of a wide range of hereditary diseases or chromosomal aberrations in the developing fetus and can contribute to negative eugenics if the parents decide to terminate the pregnancy based on the results of the diagnosis.
Currently, in a number of countries, prenatal (i.e. prenatal) diagnostics of an embryo developed as a result of artificial insemination (with a cell number of about 10) is already available. The presence of markers for about 6,000 hereditary diseases is determined, after which the question of the advisability of implanting the embryo into the uterus is decided. This allows couples who previously took risks due to the high risk of hereditary diseases to have their own child. On the other hand, some experts believe that the practice of interfering with natural gene diversity carries certain hidden risks. However, these methods are not designed to improve the human gene pool, but to help individual couples achieve their desire to have a child.
Possibilities of modern science for improving the human gene pool
Currently, a new direction in medicine is rapidly developing - gene therapy, within the framework of which it is assumed that methods of treating most hereditary diseases will be found. However, all countries currently prohibit genetic changes to germline cells (sex cells and their precursors). If in the future this ban is lifted, the relevance of weeding out “defective” members of society (that is, the relevance of negative eugenics) will significantly decrease or disappear completely.
In addition, we are developing effective methods not only corrections, but also scientifically based improvement of the genome of various organisms. When humanity has the opportunity to purposefully change any single genome, positive eugenics as a practice that promotes the reproduction of people with a certain genotype will completely lose its meaning.
The results speak about the possibilities of this direction latest experiences to improve the genome of mice:
Significant improvement in some types of memory
improved color vision
significant extension of the period of active youth
enhancing tissue regeneration
increase in physical strength and endurance
reducing the risk of cancer
reducing the risk of obesity
Convention on Biomedicine and Human Rights
Member countries of the Council of Europe and other countries (and this is the majority of developed countries and not only developed ones), supporting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, the Convention for the Protection of Fundamental Human Rights and Freedoms of 1950, signed the Convention on Biomedicine and Human Rights of 2005.
Article 11 (Prohibition of Discrimination) of the convention states: Any form of discrimination on the basis of a person's genetic heritage is prohibited.
Article 13 (Interventions in the human genome) states: Intervention in the human genome aimed at modifying it may only be carried out for preventive, therapeutic or diagnostic purposes and only on the condition that such intervention is not aimed at changing the genome of the heirs of that person.
Article 18 (Research on embryos carried out “in vitro”) states:
In cases where the law permits research on in vitro embryos, the law must provide for adequate protection of the embryos.
The creation of human embryos for research purposes is prohibited.
Existing international documents on this topic:
Universal Declaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights, UNESCO, 1997
Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Dignity with regard to the Application of Biology and Medicine: Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine (Council of Europe, 1997) and its additional protocols: on the prohibition of human cloning, on transplantation and biomedical research.
Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights, UNESCO, 2005
Declaration on Human Cloning, UN, 2005
Declaration of Helsinki of the World Medical Association (1964, last revised 2000) “Ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects.”
Moreover, within the European Union, eugenics is prohibited in accordance with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (Nice, December 7, 2000). Art. Article 3 of the Charter provides for the “prohibition of eugenic practices, especially those aimed at human selection.”
What is eugenics and how did it come about? With the development of biology, humanity has tried to find new ways to increase the yield of cultivated crops and improve the performance of domestic animals. To achieve these goals, selection methods were used. At the same time, there was a growing desire in scientific circles to use the acquired skills to improve their own gene pool. Attempts to bring these ideas to life were reflected in the new doctrine - eugenics.
Basic Concepts
What is eugenics? Can this direction be called scientific, and does it have a future? There is still debate about this. Some call eugenics a pseudoscience, others call it the science of the future. For many in the genetic improvement community, the line between research and racism is too thin. This teaching intersects ethical and social norms, so it cannot be perceived only as science.
The term “eugenics” refers to scientific activities aimed at preserving and improving hereditary characteristics human body. The word is of Greek origin and literally means “good race.” Thus, eugenics is a science that studies the influence of various environmental and hereditary factors on the innate qualities of a person. The goal of the activity is to identify negative indicators and reduce their presence to a minimum.
Many scientists in different time sought to separate external factors from genetic ones. However, as research has shown, this is impossible. These factors interact with each other. For example, climatic conditions shape such properties of the body as skin pigmentation, and the society in which a person lives has a significant impact on his psyche as a whole.
Types of eugenics
It is customary to distinguish two main directions:
1. Positive eugenics. In this case, improvement of hereditary characteristics is achieved by stimulating the spread of disease-free genotypes that can be transmitted from generation to generation.
2. Negative eugenics. This direction is considered tougher and more categorical. It prevents the spread of the negative gene pool.
Positive eugenics is more benign. However, it did not become widespread, and methods for its application were never formed. The reason is that until now there is no clear understanding of how to breed and preserve a valuable gene pool.
With negative eugenics, things are much simpler. There is a rich practice of identifying undesirable hereditary qualities that can be successfully applied. Unfortunately, the experience of using these methods is quite sad. What is negative eugenics in practice? It was precisely this that Nazi Germany used, trying to destroy, in its opinion, asocial representatives of society. In the USA and some European countries, criminals, the mentally ill and other people disliked by society were forcibly sterilized.
Background
Selection of the human species was first discussed seriously after the publication of Darwin's theory on the origin of species. It was then that questions of evolution and the search for ways to influence it were discussed in all scientific circles.
It should be noted that ideas for improving the gene pool have existed since ancient times. For example, the ancient Greek philosopher Plato believed that defective and vicious people should not be treated, and “moral degenerates” should be executed. Weak and sickly children in Sparta and the Scandinavian countries were killed in infancy, as it was believed that they would not be able to cope with the harsh living conditions. The reformer Tsar Peter the Great even issued a decree stating that “fools who are not fit for any science or service” should not reproduce, since they did not have a “good heritage” and could not be passed on to their children.
History of origin
The questions and tasks of human eugenics were first formulated by the naturalist Francis Galton from England. He was of noble birth and was Charles Darwin's cousin. Beginning in 1863, he studied the pedigrees of noble families, trying to identify the pattern of inheritance of mental and physical characteristics by descendants. His first findings were published in 1965 in the article “Hereditary Talent and Character.” Four years later, his book “Inheriting Talent” was published.
The terms and basic principles of the new science were formulated in 1883. They concerned the selection of agricultural crops, improvement of the breed of domestic animals, preservation and improvement of the human species. These aspects were described in the first book on eugenics, published that same year.
It should be noted that in Tsarist Russia Similar scientific research has also been conducted. The doctor and writer Vasily Markovich Florinsky published his work “Improvement and Degeneration of the Human Race” in 1866.
Formation of eugenics as a science
In 1907, Francis Galton defined eugenics as the science that deals with improving the innate characteristics of a race. From that moment on, she began to deal exclusively with issues of the human gene pool. Another definition of eugenics also appeared. This is a science that uses methods of social influence on the evolution of the human species.
Despite the fact that Galton preached positive measures for the improvement of the race, negative eugenics became widespread in almost all developed countries in the 20th century. In 1920, the Russian Eugenics Society was formed in the USSR, in which leading geneticists and doctors of that time participated. In European countries, forced sterilization was actively used. This measure was also used in the USA.
At the beginning of the last century, a stable phrase appeared - the Indian method. In the history of eugenics, this was the first experience of using a negative direction. The name of the method was given by the state of Indiana, where this practice was originally applied. Later it spread to other states. Since 1904, according to a law officially adopted in the United States, people “undesirable to society” were subjected to forced sterilization. These were criminals, drug addicts, alcoholics, and the mentally ill.
Eugenics in the USSR
The history of Russian eugenics began in 1920 with the founding of the Russian Eugenics Society. This group was headed by an innovative biologist, corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences Nikolai Koltsov. He was also the editor of the Russian Eugenics Journal.
Active research activities were carried out within the walls of the Society. Participants studied human phenotype and genotype. They collected data from Russian family chronicles and conducted a survey of people with outstanding abilities. The purpose of these studies was to search for patterns of inheritance and acquisition of certain human abilities.
The cardinal difference between Russian eugenics and the eugenics of other countries is that in the USSR measures were not taken to sterilize and exterminate carriers of unwanted heredity. In Koltsov’s work on improving the human breed, the idea of creating a creative person (HomoCreator) was formulated. The biologist believed that artificially reducing the birth rate would lead to a negative result in improving the gene pool. The right method, in his opinion, was to create a favorable environment to support carriers of good heredity.
Geneticist Yuri Filipchenko and eugenicist Mikhail Volotsky, on the contrary, considered the eugenic experience of sterilization used in the USA to be the most successful. Psychiatrist Viktor Osipov considered alcohol to be the main factor influencing the degeneration of the Russian nation.
The scientist Serebrovsky proposed creating separate eugenics for each class. This was quite logical, because each social group had a certain set of positive and negative qualities that had developed over generations. In general, he argued, to achieve the goals pursued by eugenics, it was necessary to improve the living conditions of citizens. He also proposed creating a sperm bank with samples of seminal fluid from representatives of the social elite for artificial insemination of women.
With Stalin coming to power, science underwent a number of changes. The society, formed in 1920, collapsed. Eugenics degenerated into medical genetics.
Science and Nazism
In the first half of the 20th century, forced sterilization was also popular in Germany. However, the eugenics measures of the Third Reich were much stricter than in other European countries. Not only sick and unreliable citizens were prohibited from having offspring. This fate befell the Gypsies and Jews. The same measures were taken regarding people with communist views. Then it was decided not only to sterilize people objectionable to the Third Reich, but also to exterminate them physically. Initially, such measures were carried out only in Germany, but later extended to the lands captured by the Nazis.
The Germans believed that such “eugenics” would prevent the degeneration of the Aryan race, of which they were the only representatives. However, this was genocide at its most brutal.
After World War II, attitudes toward eugenics changed dramatically. The shadow of fascism and the horrors that occurred under the leadership of Hitler fell heavily on her. Since that time, people who are not privy to the intricacies of science and the history of its origin have inexorably associated it exclusively with the Third Reich. This is the main reason for the negative attitude towards science.
Eugenics problems
At the Nuremberg trials, eugenicist scientists of the Third Reich were ranked among the executioners for experiments carried out on prisoners, and the strictest taboo was imposed on the teaching itself. In addition, some of the methods proposed by eugenicists were criticized in society. In the Soviet Union, for example, it was proposed to introduce artificial insemination of women.
The main problem faced by eugenics is the lack of information about the transmission of positive and negative hereditary traits from generation to generation. There is no formula that determines or predicts whether children will have a high level of intelligence or talent in any area. It follows from this that positive eugenics is built on hypotheses and has no scientific confirmation. And the negative direction met with sharp criticism from society.
Eugenics how scientific activity began to revive many years later. Preference is given to research in a positive direction. Modern scientists are mostly inclined to believe that this science has lost its meaning today. The set goals were never achieved, and the activity, which was initially positioned as purely scientific, was closely intertwined with the norms of ethics and morality.
Eugenics and human rights
Everyone knows where the road paved with good intentions leads. This is what happened with eugenics. Science collides with morality. The fact is that the process of improvement begins with defining a standard to strive for. In this way, it is revealed good qualities and bad ones. In eugenics, a division occurred into people worthy of living and procreating, and those unworthy.
It should be noted that the number of those undesirable to society significantly exceeded the number of those who had positive heredity. After all, among them there were not only patients and criminals. Selection took place for a number of traits, which often had nothing to do with heredity. It could be religion, social affiliation, level of income.
To avoid infringement of human rights and freedoms, a number of legal measures were taken. European countries have signed conventions and declarations on this topic. According to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (2000), eugenics has become a prohibited science.
Eugenics today
IN modern world The problems of eugenics are solved by the science of genetics. Couples who want to have a child, but are afraid that the baby will develop hereditary diseases, can, with the help of specialists, analyze their data and assess the risks. Such counseling allows you to calculate the likelihood that the offspring will/will not have a particular defect.
Prenatal diagnostic methods are widely used. Examination of the fetus developing in the womb helps to identify most hereditary diseases and pathologies. If necessary, a woman has the opportunity to terminate her pregnancy in the early stages.
Genetic engineering is directly concerned with finding and researching ways that could improve the gene pool and rid humanity of inherited diseases.
Other eugenics
If you closely search for information about eugenics, on the pages of information resources you can find answers that have nothing to do with science. The following phrases appear in the drop-down list: “eugenics Instagram”, “eugenics didyulya”, “eugenics singer” and the like. What do these phrases mean and what do they have to do with human selection? Absolutely none.
Evgenia Didyulya hides under the sonorous pseudonym Eugenika. "Singer. Actress. Model. TV presenter. Wonder wife" - this is what she writes about herself in in social networks. IN this moment she is involved in the DiDuLa project. In addition, she is a blogger and often appears on various talk shows.
Evgeniya has two higher education majoring in vocals, married, she has a daughter. Her husband is Valery Didulya, a famous virtuoso guitarist, composer and showman. He is also the producer of the beauty.
On her blog, Evgenika Didulya reads various sarcastic poems. The authors of these poems are director Oleg Lomovoy, online poetess Yulia Solomonova and others.
Creativity of Eugenics
The singer released her first album in the summer of 2017. It's called "Optimist". Eugenics' songs are filled with humor and simplicity of life. According to the performer herself, they fully reflect her character and outlook on life. The singer's videos are also humorous. In addition, she is not shy about appearing to the public both in revealing outfits and in a masculine look. A striking example of this is the video for Eugenics’ song “Women.”
Greek eugenes - thoroughbred). A system of beliefs about the possibility of improving a person’s hereditary qualities through selection and control over the transmission of hereditary factors. For a long time, Europe was an arena for the activities of obscurantists and reactionaries who used pseudoscientific formulations to cover up the carrying out of genocide (mass extermination of representatives of other races and the sick in Nazi Germany). However, a humane, progressive application of E’s ideas is also possible. In particular, the positive role of medical genetics and genetic consultations is undeniable.
Eugenics
A selective breeding program for the purpose of "improving" human abilities through careful selection and transfer of hereditary characteristics. The idea of eugenics was considered impractical, immoral and generally outdated.
EUGENICS
eugenics is a science concerned with improving human race, based on the principles of genetics. The main object of this study is the identification and, if possible, elimination of hereditary human diseases.
EUGENICS
The study of patterns of human heredity with the goal of improving the species through selective breeding. Positive eugenics focuses on encouraging individuals with "desirable" traits to reproduce, while negative eugenics focuses on preventing individuals with "undesirable" traits from producing offspring (often using unethical procedures such as forced sterilization). Unfortunately (or should we say fortunately), no agreement was reached on what characteristics would be desirable to perpetuate. Since the founding of the discipline by Francis Galton in the 19th century, eugenicists have not been able to free themselves from their own ethnocentrism.
Eugenics
from Greek eugenes - good kind) - the doctrine of hereditary human health and ways to improve it. The principles of E. were first formulated by F. Galton in 1869 in his book “The Heredity of Talent.” The term itself was proposed by him in 1883. Interest in eugenic ideas was especially significant in the first quarter of the 20th century. Progressive scientists (F. Galton, G. Meller, N.K. Koltsov, Yu.A. Filipchenko) set humane goals for E.: first of all, the study of human hereditary qualities and the creation of conditions for increasing the birth rate of people with favorable hereditary inclinations. This direction of E. is called positive. However, eugenic ideas were also used for other purposes - birth control for people with mental illness, people prone to alcoholism, crime, etc. For these purposes, a number of countries in Europe and America passed laws on forced sterilization and immigration restrictions (negative eugenics). The ideas of negative E. were used to justify discrimination and racism (for example, in Nazi Germany), which discredited E. as a scientific discipline and led to the refusal to use the term “E.” In modern science, many problems of positive E. are solved within the framework of human genetics and medical genetics.
Eugenics
The doctrine of the hereditary prerequisites for individual human development, the conditions and patterns of inheritance of giftedness and talent (F. Galton). In fact, it is a reflection of the solution to the eternal question of the role of environment and heredity in the development of genius and talent towards the predominance of the second. With the help of E., racists try to substantiate the pattern of racial and national inequality from a biological point of view.
Eugenics
Greek eugenes - thoroughbred) - F. Galton's theory (1870) about the possibility of improving the human species by methods of selective reproduction (for example, sterilization, obstacles to childbearing by persons with signs of degeneration, artificial marriages, etc.). Positive eugenics focuses on encouraging the procreation of individuals with desirable, adaptive traits, while negative eugenics focuses on preventing children from parents with undesirable traits or inherited disease traits. In the United States, from 1905 to 1980, twenty states passed laws prohibiting persons with mental disabilities, epilepsy and criminal tendencies from having children, and about 8,000 people were sterilized. The generally humane goals of eugenics were thoroughly discredited by people with very specific views on what a person should be and what should be the ways to improve his nature. Thus, the straightforward Hitlerite Nazis created at one time a special institute for the reproduction of “Aryans”, but the experience of its activities turned out to be completely disappointing: purebred males and selected females after mating produced, contrary to expectations, thin and sickly offspring. Currently, in connection with the amazing achievements of genetics, more advanced technologies have appeared, for example, genetic engineering, cloning, but very complex problems, including ethical ones, stand in the way of their practical use, excluding “social terror”.
Eugenics
from Greek eugenes - purebred) - 1) selection of racial properties based on ideology (where one human race with special phenotypic and general properties is proclaimed above all others), which does not recognize either the principle of equality or the principle of personalism. In history, E. has served as an ideological basis for violence against some minorities, and is now practically used in some artificial insemination technologies and in recommending abortion if human embryos do not meet acceptable “general conditions”;
2) an influential scientific direction of the first half of the 20th century, within which the task was set of improving the hereditary characteristics of the human population (physical and intellectual). E.'s methods were aimed at stopping the genetic degeneration of humanity associated with the development of medicine and social support individuals, as a result of which the action of natural selection weakened. Within the framework of negative E., the idea of depriving defective citizens (alcoholics, drug addicts, criminals, etc.) of the opportunity to procreate and pass on “unworthy” genes by inheritance is advocated. Within the framework of positive education, the task is to provide advantages for the reproduction of the most gifted (physically and intellectually) people. In recent decades, genetics has begun to develop again in connection with the rapid progress of molecular genetics, cloning, and other biomedical research, requiring that ethical and sociocultural factors of intervention in hereditary programs be taken into account and that they be regulated and controlled based on the benefit of the human population.
Test
Eugenics as a science
Introduction
Humanity has always strived to become better. Every small step a person takes is aimed at becoming faster, taller, stronger, smarter, healthier, richer, more beautiful, etc. It's a natural desire to want to become the best version of yourself. This desire was transformed into theory and founded such a doctrine as eugenics.
Eugenics refers to the artificial improvement of breeds and species, including human species. In the scientific understanding, this is the social control of human evolution. It is believed that this practice turned out to be scientifically incorrect and socially harmful.
Now eugenics is a thing of the past, and a heavily tarnished one at that. And the goals set for eugenics by its founders and not achieved by it have become completely the responsibility of medical genetics, which is quickly and successfully moving forward.
In recent decades, many of the basic premises of eugenics have been scientifically discredited, and the eugenics movement has lost its influence (although it retains some adherents). At the same time, thanks to modern advances in biomedical sciences and technology, some of the goals of eugenics have been partially achieved.
In this work we will reveal the concept of eugenics, the basic principles and types of this doctrine. Let's find out how this thought developed, what forms it took and in what form it came to us.
1. The concept and essence of eugenics
Eugenics (from the Greek “eugenes” - good kind) is the doctrine of preventing the possible deterioration of a person’s hereditary qualities, and in the future - about the conditions and methods of influencing the improvement of these qualities.
The term “eugenics” was first proposed by the English biologist F. Galton in the book “The Heredity of Talent, Its Laws and Consequences” (1969). Despite the fact that progressive scientists set humane goals for eugenics, it was often used as a cover for reactionaries and racists, who, based on false ideas about the alleged inferiority of individual races, peoples and social groups. They, relying on nationalist and class prejudices, justified racial, national and class discrimination.
There are intense ideological debates surrounding eugenics. Some scientists believe that the very concept of “eugenics” is incompatible with the scientific worldview. Others believe that the content of eugenics, its objectives and the most reasonable means of achieving them will fall to human genetics, anthropogenetics and medical genetics.
Sciences that study the heredity and variability of the characteristics of the human body have shown that the diversity of people is associated both with their hereditary inclinations and with living conditions (natural-climatic, socio-economic, cultural, etc.). The study of identical twins, in particular their mental development, as well as genealogical observations indicate that heredity plays a large, but by no means exclusive role in determining a person’s mental, including mental, abilities. If his morphological characteristics are determined primarily by heredity, then his mental characteristics and behavior are also strongly influenced by the environment and social conditions: upbringing, education, work activity, the influence of the team, society, etc.
Medical genetics can do a lot in this direction, the tasks of which include studying the action of mutagens - chemical, radiation and other factors environment, damaging hereditary structures in human germ cells, and preventing (including by improving the environment) harmful mutations that threaten the health of future generations. Marriages between relatives are especially conducive to the manifestation of harmful mutations, because at the same time, the probability of receiving a usually suppressed (recessive) harmful trait from both parents sharply increases. This explains the fact that in isolated human groups (isolates), where, as a rule, closely related marriages occur more often, the percentage of hereditary diseases and deformities increases. Harmful effects consanguineous marriages were noticed in ancient times, which led to their condemnation, prohibition by customs, and subsequently legal prohibition. To prevent the spread of harmful mutations and their combinations by limiting marriage between carriers of such mutations, medical genetic consultations are used, the purpose of which is to provide for the possibility of manifestation of harmful heredity in the offspring of people entering into marriage. Sufficiently accurate predictions in this sense can already be made for many hereditary diseases, for example, hemophilia, color blindness, etc. These are protective (preventive) methods that prevent the deterioration of a person’s hereditary qualities. At a higher level of scientific development in the future, the possibility of using reasonable, morally and socially justified influence on the human race is not excluded. Highly gifted people constitute the invaluable wealth of society, one of the conditions for its progress, and the question of the possibilities of identifying them, the conditions of upbringing and education cannot but attract the attention of scientists. All this requires further in-depth research in human genetics with the increasingly widespread use of methods and achievements of molecular genetics.
History of eugenics
All people are imperfect. Already in early age You can notice that some children are gifted with health, but weak in intellect, others cannot boast of physical beauty and strength, but are ahead of their peers in mental development. Therefore, when you meet a person who combines beauty, strength, intelligence, and morality, he seems like some kind of miracle of nature. Such people evoke different feelings in those around them - some have admiration, some have envy. But scientists many years ago began to think about how, for what reasons, such rare, comprehensively gifted people are born. And is it possible to make sure that there are more and more of them in human society?
The first person to pose this question was Francis Galton, Charles Darwin's cousin. An aristocrat by birth, Galton began studying the genealogies of the famous aristocratic families of England. His task was to establish the patterns of inheritance of talent, intellectual talent, and physical perfection. Galton believed that if to obtain a new breed it is necessary to select the best breeding animals, then the same results can be achieved by targeted selection married couples. The best must choose the best so that healthy, beautiful, gifted children are born as a result. Galton proposed creating special conditions for the “reproduction of genes” of outstanding people from aristocratic families. This is the beginning of eugenics.
Regardless of Galton in Russia, the doctor V.M. Florinsky came to the same idea - humanity must improve its “breed”, gradually becoming more intelligent, beautiful, and talented. In 1866, Florinsky published the work “Improvement and Degeneration of the Human Race,” in which he substantiated his opinion.
However, what Galton and Florinsky dreamed of is only the front side of the coin. There is also a downside, which played, perhaps, the main role in the fate of eugenics.
Any breeder knows that in order to create a new breed with improved properties, approximately 95 percent of the animals must be culled. The worst should not participate in reproduction - this is the principle of any selection. And here eugenics directly faces insoluble problems lying in the field of human ethics and morality.
What Galton proposed for the improvement of the human race was later called positive eugenics. But very soon another movement emerged - negative eugenics. Its adherents believed that it was necessary to prevent people with mental and physical disabilities, alcoholics, drug addicts, and criminals from having children. Negative eugenics has attracted criticism from the very beginning. After all, this kind of “selection” was carried out back in ancient Sparta, where weak and sick children were destroyed. The result is known - Sparta did not produce a single outstanding thinker, artist, artist, but became famous for its strong and brave warriors.
History knows many examples when great people had physical disabilities or suffered from severe hereditary diseases, including mental ones.
Moreover, it is known that some mental illnesses, the development of which is associated with a subtle, vulnerable mental organization, are genetically associated with talent in music, mathematics, and poetry.
The inheritance of a particular trait leading to the development of a disease is still a probabilistic process, and it cannot be predicted. For example, a child can “receive” a gene that causes vascular pathology from a sick father, or maybe from a healthy mother. And vice versa, parents can be completely healthy, but have genes that determine the development of the disease - these genes are in a latent state, or, as geneticists say, in a recessive state. Whether these genes appear in their offspring or not is a matter of chance. It all depends on possible combinations of genes, their interaction with each other and, of course, on social conditions, upbringing, psychological environment, and to some extent on luck.
Scientists' objections to negative eugenics did not convince its supporters. Another question, this time from the area of morality, did not stop them: who are the judges? In fact, who should decide that one deviation from the norm is unacceptable, while another is quite acceptable for the future?
However, in 1915-1916, 25 American states passed laws on forced sterilization of the mentally ill, criminals, and drug addicts. Similar laws existed in Scandinavia and Estonia. Negative eugenics reached its apogee in Nazi Germany. In 1933, for example, 56,244 mentally ill people were sterilized in Germany. The Nazis believed that within humanity there should be a core of “high-quality” individuals who would take part in the formation of the future human race. All others - weak, sick, crippled, simply not up to standard - must either be destroyed or sterilized. What came out of this theory in practice is well known to everyone.
In some countries, however, eugenics took a different route. In England, a number of measures were taken to encourage large families among people of the Anglo-Saxon race and to create favorable conditions for the upbringing and development of gifted children.
In the Soviet Union, the Russian Eugenics Society was created in 1920-1921. The society published a special publication on eugenics - "Russian Eugenics Journal". It published prominent genetic scientists of that time - N.K. Koltsov, A.S. Serebrovsky, A.I. Filipchenko. In the magazine one could find studies of the genealogies of famous noble families, for example, the Aksakovs and Turgenevs. Many articles actually laid the foundations of human genetics and medical genetics in our country.
However, soon the contradictions of eugenics began to emerge, which, apparently, are inseparable from it. N.K. Koltsov, for example, believed that eugenics is a utopia, but it will be “the religion of the future century.” A.S. To improve the human race, Serebrovsky proposed separating procreation from love and practicing artificial insemination. These ideas of scientists aroused sharp criticism, and in 1929 the Russian Eugenics Society ceased to exist, and the Russian Eugenics Journal ceased publication.
In the post-war years, interest in eugenics declined, but began to revive again at the end of the twentieth century.
3.Types of eugenics
There are positive and negative eugenics.
The goal of positive eugenics is to promote the reproduction of people with characteristics that are considered valuable to society (lack of hereditary diseases, good physical development, sometimes high intelligence).
The goal of negative eugenics is to stop the reproduction of persons with hereditary defects, or those who are considered physically or mentally defective in a given society.
The “Russian Eugenics Society”, created in 1920, rejected negative eugenics and began to deal with the problems of positive eugenics.
The line between negative and positive eugenics is arbitrary, and the world's major religions currently reject both types of eugenics. In China and India, diagnosing the sex of the fetus is widely practiced and girls are often aborted. For example, according to Indian-Canadian studies, approximately 500 thousand unborn girls are aborted in India every year. “There are 927 girls for every 1,000 boys under the age of 6 in this country. Globally, this ratio averages 1,050 girls to 1,000 boys.” This disrupts the natural ratio of boys and girls, which leads to negative consequences for society. This can rather be called negative eugenics - the artificial removal from the population of people who are perceived as undesirable in a given society.
4. Problems of eugenics
What is the nature of heredity that eugenics seeks to change? How successfully and in what ways can it be changed? What goals should eugenics aim at?
We know that at the beginning each individual is a fertilized egg, during the development of which, in addition to individual characteristics characteristics are formed that are common to all members of a given species, race and family. Thus, a fertilized egg has the potential and ability to develop in a certain direction, but within the limits imposed by the environment. This means that we must understand, firstly, the mechanism of heredity (i.e., how a fertilized egg realizes its capabilities) and, secondly, the relative influence of heredity and environment on the formation of an individual’s characteristics.
Regarding heredity, genetics teaches us that heredity is determined by genes. These hereditary units are present in equal numbers in both sex cells (egg and sperm), which are united during fertilization. Thus, heredity is formed by two parents. It is important that each gene inherited from the mother corresponds to a similar gene inherited from the father. In such pairs, the genes are not always the same, since new variants arise as a result of rare but irreversible changes called mutations. When paired genes differ (a condition referred to as heterozygous), one of them, called dominant, has a decisive effect on the trait being determined; the manifestation of the second gene - the recessive one - will be hidden, although it is passed on from generation to generation without changes. Each individual appears to have many recessive genes, but most of them are not expressed. The significance of this situation for eugenics is quite clear: a significant part of the genes of any person, and accordingly the entire population, is hidden, and in relation to them eugenic measures must be taken blindly.
Many traits, particularly intelligence, are determined not by two genes, but by a particular combination of dominant genes (from different pairs), perhaps together with some homozygous recessive genes. These combinations are very rarely inherited entirely and unchanged for the reason that an individual does not inherit all genes from one parent, but only half from each, or more precisely, one gene from each pair of parent genes. The choice of a specific gene from each pair is random. Genes located in different chromosomal pairs are selected by chance and, even being in the same pair of chromosomes, can be partially recombined. Therefore, the greater the number of genes that determine a given trait, the less likely it is that their specific combination will be transmitted unchanged to the next generation. Almost all combinations disintegrate during the maturation of germ cells, and when the egg and sperm unite, new combinations are formed. This re-sorting and recombination of genes has absolutely special meaning for eugenics, since most of socially significant characteristics of a person depend on many genes, combinations of which cannot be preserved regardless of whether they are good or bad. Moreover, a certain gene that gives an unfavorable effect in most combinations can be beneficial in some one combination, and vice versa. It is very rare that we can assess the full effect of a gene; it has to be judged by the final result of the interaction of genes.
Galton was the first to try to evaluate the relative influence of heredity and environment on the formation of individual characteristics of an individual. A study of family cases of genius and special talents convinced him that “nature prevails over the influence of education in cases where education does not differ greatly among the people being compared, when the differences in the conditions of education do not exceed those that usually occur between people of the same social position in the same country. Subsequent studies confirmed this conclusion. This is especially true for monozygotic, so-called. identical, twins who develop from one fertilized egg and therefore have identical heredity. It has been shown that even when twins are separated in early childhood, they remain remarkably similar. This similarity is most pronounced in physical characteristics (eye and hair color, blood type, baldness, etc.), which are virtually identical in twins of this type.
The inheritance of mental abilities began to be studied intensively after standard intelligence tests were developed. Identical twins show very similar results. If one of a pair of twins is mentally retarded, then in 88% of cases the second one is too. Among fraternal twins, a match for this trait occurs in only 7%. Identical environmental conditions have about the same weight in achieving similar intelligence scores as genetic differences between fraternal and identical twins. Of 20 pairs of identical twins reared separately, ten pairs were virtually identical, six pairs differed by 7-12 IQ units, and four pairs differed by 15-24 IQ units. Last digit obtained from a pair of twins, one of whom studied 13 years more than the other. Thus, no significant differences were found between identical twins reared apart, except in cases where there was a very large difference in the length of education and the cultural level of the families.
In general, twin studies show that similar genetic makeup tends to lead to similar characteristics unless individuals are exposed to very different environmental conditions. Only extremely carefully conducted experiments could establish whether a given specific difference in external conditions is capable of influencing a given trait or not; such connections must be established for each characteristic separately. In the formation of an individual's characteristics, the environmental effect is intricately intertwined with the influence of genetic factors.
5. Genetic changes
Eugenics is interested, first of all, in the frequency of certain traits in a given population and, accordingly, specific genes that determine these traits or influence their formation. The study of evolutionary processes has shown that gene frequencies change under the influence of four main factors: 1) mutations; 2) natural or artificial selection; 3) case; 4) isolation or, conversely, migration.
As a result of mutations, new gene variants appear, without which there cannot be a long process of evolutionary changes, neither eugenic nor any other. Mutation of a specific gene usually occurs very rarely. Mutation frequencies have been determined for several human genes; their average value equal to approximately 1:50,000 per generation. This means that, for example, in a population of 50,000 people, one person will have the hemophilia gene, not inherited from parents, but resulting from a mutation in the gene that determines normal blood clotting. Therefore, unless a way to prevent this mutation is found, no measure to remove the gene from the population will be successful. IN best case scenario its frequency can be reduced to the level of the mutation rate. Therefore, it is impossible to completely get rid of hemophilia; its lower limit is determined by the mutation frequency of 1:50,000.
Carriers of unfavorable hereditary traits are less likely than normal to achieve mature age and have offspring; or they, having reached maturity, have fewer descendants due to celibacy or sterility. In any of these cases, the frequency of the corresponding genes decreases in the next generation. However, many favorable genes are also lost, since selection rejects individuals, i.e. the entire set of genes, and not just the gene that causes the most harm.
The rate at which the frequency of a gene decreases under the influence of selection depends on the percentage of people in the population in whom the gene appears. For example, if a completely dominant gene reduces viability by half (and accordingly is transmitted to the next generation half as often as a normal one), then after 20 generations, or approximately 500 years, its frequency will be 1 million times less than the original and ultimately almost will undoubtedly reach a level where it will be maintained only by newly emerging mutations. As a consequence, any harmful dominant trait will be very rare as a result of natural selection, so there is no point in fighting it with eugenic measures.
Random changes in gene frequencies and the isolation effect are not significant in our time, since they are noticeable only in small populations, where even a harmful gene can randomly spread, and a beneficial one can be eliminated. In small populations there is also a closer degree of relatedness between those entering into marriage. In itself, such inbreeding does not change the frequency of genes, but increases the proportion of homozygotes, as a result of which recessive genes become the field of selection. Inbreeding is not harmful if the line does not have harmful recessive genes. Since the Middle Ages, small populations have merged into large ones; Along with this, migration processes, which acquired in the 20th century. unprecedented scale, lead to the mixing of diverse populations. As a result, a significant part of recessive genes has become heterozygous and does not experience selection pressure, and therefore can significantly increase its frequency.
By creating a social environment, humanity unwittingly smoothed out the rigidity of natural selection. The price we will ultimately have to pay for the advances of modern medicine is an increase in the frequency of a number of unfavorable genes whose effects we have learned to mitigate. Many thousands of diabetics, previously doomed to death in childhood, are now saved by insulin, can lead relatively normal lives and pass on the genes responsible for this disease to their descendants. Myopia is also not a significant disadvantage for life these days. Probably no one would like to restore the opposite picture, but medicine itself is constantly increasing the burden that it has to bear.
6. Eugenics and ethical standards
No matter how humane the motives of eugenics are - to make humanity healthier, more beautiful, more gifted and, ultimately, happier - there is some flaw in its very essence. It does not fit into the complex structure of human society, woven from contradictions not only biological, but also legal, social, psychological, and religious.
After all, any improvement, one way or another, begins with a division into bad and good, viable and weak, talented and untalented. Separation - and then selection, culling of options that do not meet certain requirements. At the level of human society, such selection inevitably means discrimination.
From the point of view of pure science, eugenics also contains flaws in its premises. For example, its main task is to change the ratio of harmful and beneficial signs towards useful ones. Indeed, in some cases it can be said that there are “harmful” varieties of genes and “beneficial” ones. However, according to the most optimistic estimates of geneticists, in 200-300 years it would be possible to increase the number of “useful” genes in the human population by only hundredths of a percent.
The futility of rejecting “harmful” genes was also shown by Nazi experiments: at one time in Nazi Germany, mentally ill people were practically destroyed, and at first fewer children with disabilities were actually born. But 40-50 years have passed, and now the percentage of mental patients in Germany is the same as it was before. Another stumbling block is that eugenics attempts to control complex human behavioral traits, intelligence and talent, which are determined by a large number of genes. The nature of their inheritance is very complex. In addition, culture, language, and educational conditions play a big role in the development of talent and intelligence. All this is transmitted to the child not through genes, but through communication with loved ones and teachers. We should not forget that talent is not the presence of some special genes, but, as a rule, their unique, amazing combination, which is not repeated in generations. In addition to the combination of genes, talent is determined by many more reasons, among which a person’s fate, his environment, education and, of course, a moment of luck play a significant role, although one may not agree with this. Most likely, humanity will part with the temptations of eugenics. An alternative could be the widespread dissemination of knowledge about hereditary diseases and the development of a network of medical and genetic consultations, with the help of which in many cases the birth of children with severe genetic diseases can already be avoided.
Conclusion
Eugenics is a term created by Francis Galton in 1883 to denote the scientific and practical activities of breeding improved varieties of cultivated plants and breeds of domestic animals, as well as protecting and improving human heredity. Over time, the word “eugenics” began to be used in the latter sense. Kellycott defined eugenics as “the social control of human evolution.”
There are positive and negative eugenics. The goal of positive eugenics is to increase the reproduction of individuals with characteristics that can be considered valuable to society, such as high intelligence and good physical development or biological fitness. Negative eugenics seeks to reduce the reproduction of those who may be considered mentally or physically underdeveloped or below average.
In recent decades, many of the basic premises of eugenics have been scientifically discredited, and the eugenics movement has lost its influence as a social force (although it retains some adherents). At the same time, thanks to modern advances in biomedical sciences and technology, some of the goals of eugenics have been partially achieved.
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Eugenics - [Electronic resource]. URL: http://traditio-ru.org/wiki/Eugenics (access date: 06/04/2014)
Eugenics: Science of the Future or Inhumane Experiment? - [Electronic resource]. URL: http://moikompas.ru/compas/eugenics (access date: 06/04/2014)
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