ACCORDING to one dystopian vision of where advances in genetics are taking us, society will descend into a monoculture of super-smart people with gleaming white teeth.
The parents of children with Down鈥檚 syndrome are at the sharp end of the debate about where to draw the line between selecting perfection, preventing disability and accepting diversity. With the rise of prenatal screening, they fear for their children鈥檚 well-being in a world where there are fewer people like them. This unease could deepen with the realisation (see 鈥淧renatal treatment for Down鈥檚 works in mice鈥�) that some Down鈥檚 symptoms could be treated in the womb.
Another vision emerges from a survey by the British Down鈥檚 Syndrome Association, however. More babies with Down鈥檚 are being born now than when screening was widely introduced. Though the statistics are complicated by the rise in the numbers of older mothers 鈥� who are more likely to have children with the syndrome 鈥� it suggests that when parents have the choice, they may well accept what some insurers call 鈥渆lective disability鈥�. Our genetic future suddenly looks less eugenic and more interesting.
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