[Nasrudith]

I got downvoted for expressing this opinion before but the only real issues are implementation related.

#1: The technology isn't mature enough and has some "mistargetting" that adds or deletes where it shouldn't.

#2: It is a reckless disregard for human life to not do generational animal trials before humans. If we cannot say make mice redfurred or immune to a mouse disease without major side effects like vastly increased cancer risk doing so in humans is unconscionable.*

*Medical ethics has a bit of weirdness in that if someone is certainly doomed otherwise it is more permissible to try something crazy.

If we could accessibly edit DNA mistakes with no more risk or difficulty than say preventing blood type mismatch related miscarriage then it having a few people with "bad traits carried onto offspring" wouldn't be a big deal.

It is often en vogue to complain about it cementing a class divide but under that logic education is unethical because it priveledges those who can afford it over those who cannot.

[nl]

> education is unethical because it priveledges those who can afford it over those who cannot

No, unequal access to education is unethical.

While it might be impractical to guarantee absolutely equal education, most people agree access to a basic education is a human right.

[ficklepickle]

Your attempt at whataboutism failed.

It is not at all equivalent. In developed countries, education is accessible to most or all. (The USA is not a developed country by this measure)

If you aren't worried about humanity splitting into multiple species along economic lines, I don't know what to tell you. I guess the film Gattaca was just a fun romp for you? I guess you must assume you will be one of the "haves" and to hell with everyone else, if you get yours?

[eloff]

No, they make a good point. If you restrict your focus to countries where higher education is expensive, it definitely is one of many ways in which parental wealth translates into an advantage for offspring. To say it's free or cheap in some countries is just missing their point.

There are also ways in which parental wealth is a disadvantage. It can weaken that grit, ambition, and drive to accomplish things.

While I worry about the implications as much as you do (Gattaca was a great, thought provoking movie) I think the grandparent comment is completely correct that there may be no way to prevent it. If we outlaw it our country, other countries may not. It only takes one group from now until the end of the human race to pursue this for that bifurcation of the human race to be possible.

Maybe it's not such a bad thing. If we don't make ourselves better, whatever the cost, we may find ourselves replaced by artificial life one day.

[8note]

If you're in a country where education is democratized, there's no reason to believe that gene editing won't be.

Ignoring the US for education is silly because it's the place where gene editing is likeliest to be restricted to the richest.