Ethical Concerns About Human Genetic Enhancement in the Malay Science Fiction Novels

Advancements in science and technology have not only brought hope to humankind to produce disease-free offspring, but also offer possibilities to genetically enhance the next generation’s traits and capacities. Human genetic enhancement, however, raises complex ethical questions, such as to what ext...

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Main Authors: Isa, Noor Munirah, Safian Shuri, Muhammad Fakhruddin
Format: Article
Published: Springer Verlag 2018
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Online Access:http://eprints.um.edu.my/21808/
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-017-9887-1
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spelling my.um.eprints.218082019-08-06T02:03:48Z http://eprints.um.edu.my/21808/ Ethical Concerns About Human Genetic Enhancement in the Malay Science Fiction Novels Isa, Noor Munirah Safian Shuri, Muhammad Fakhruddin Q Science (General) T Technology (General) Advancements in science and technology have not only brought hope to humankind to produce disease-free offspring, but also offer possibilities to genetically enhance the next generation’s traits and capacities. Human genetic enhancement, however, raises complex ethical questions, such as to what extent should it be allowed? It has been a great challenge for humankind to develop robust ethical guidelines for human genetic enhancement that address both public concerns and needs. We believe that research about public concerns is necessary prior to developing such guidelines, yet the issues have not been thoroughly investigated in many countries, including Malaysia. Since the novel often functions as a medium for the public to express their concerns, this paper explores ethical concerns about human genetic enhancement expressed in four Malay science fiction novels namely Klon, Leksikon Ledang, Transgenesis Bisikan Rimba and Transgenik Sifar. Religion has a strong influence on the worldview of the Malays therefore some concerns such as playing God are obviously religious. Association of the negative image of scientists as well as the private research companies with the research on human genetic enhancement reflects the authors’ concerns about the main motivations for conducting such research and the extent to which such research will benefit society. Springer Verlag 2018 Article PeerReviewed Isa, Noor Munirah and Safian Shuri, Muhammad Fakhruddin (2018) Ethical Concerns About Human Genetic Enhancement in the Malay Science Fiction Novels. Science and Engineering Ethics, 24 (1). pp. 109-127. ISSN 1353-3452 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-017-9887-1 doi:10.1007/s11948-017-9887-1
institution Universiti Malaya
building UM Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Malaya
content_source UM Research Repository
url_provider http://eprints.um.edu.my/
topic Q Science (General)
T Technology (General)
spellingShingle Q Science (General)
T Technology (General)
Isa, Noor Munirah
Safian Shuri, Muhammad Fakhruddin
Ethical Concerns About Human Genetic Enhancement in the Malay Science Fiction Novels
description Advancements in science and technology have not only brought hope to humankind to produce disease-free offspring, but also offer possibilities to genetically enhance the next generation’s traits and capacities. Human genetic enhancement, however, raises complex ethical questions, such as to what extent should it be allowed? It has been a great challenge for humankind to develop robust ethical guidelines for human genetic enhancement that address both public concerns and needs. We believe that research about public concerns is necessary prior to developing such guidelines, yet the issues have not been thoroughly investigated in many countries, including Malaysia. Since the novel often functions as a medium for the public to express their concerns, this paper explores ethical concerns about human genetic enhancement expressed in four Malay science fiction novels namely Klon, Leksikon Ledang, Transgenesis Bisikan Rimba and Transgenik Sifar. Religion has a strong influence on the worldview of the Malays therefore some concerns such as playing God are obviously religious. Association of the negative image of scientists as well as the private research companies with the research on human genetic enhancement reflects the authors’ concerns about the main motivations for conducting such research and the extent to which such research will benefit society.
format Article
author Isa, Noor Munirah
Safian Shuri, Muhammad Fakhruddin
author_facet Isa, Noor Munirah
Safian Shuri, Muhammad Fakhruddin
author_sort Isa, Noor Munirah
title Ethical Concerns About Human Genetic Enhancement in the Malay Science Fiction Novels
title_short Ethical Concerns About Human Genetic Enhancement in the Malay Science Fiction Novels
title_full Ethical Concerns About Human Genetic Enhancement in the Malay Science Fiction Novels
title_fullStr Ethical Concerns About Human Genetic Enhancement in the Malay Science Fiction Novels
title_full_unstemmed Ethical Concerns About Human Genetic Enhancement in the Malay Science Fiction Novels
title_sort ethical concerns about human genetic enhancement in the malay science fiction novels
publisher Springer Verlag
publishDate 2018
url http://eprints.um.edu.my/21808/
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-017-9887-1
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