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Comment by magic_beans | Hacker News Reader

You are talking about two human beings. HN can be shocking for its collective lack of empathy, but this is a new low.

The genes won't care that the scientists playing with them were unethical. The only reason your attitude seems appealing is because nobody wants to believe eventually this strategy will give the Chinese a superior understanding of gene editing.

What good will a superior understanding of gene editing be if we cease being a civilized society where scientific research can be nurtured in the first place? Ethics are not optional to science, they are integral to the social foundation upon which science rests.

Ethics (e.g., scruples against fabricating research for personal gain) are actually what keeps Western science a cut above Eastern science.

Obviously, though, ethics aren't a binary concept; you can value eugenics at the expense of suffering and be committed to the quality of your research.

And good science knows no politics.

People do, though, and they're the scientists.

I get the feeling OP is saying this sarcastically, as a way to criticize China.

Yes, standing on the shoulders of giants is ok ... but behave while doing so.

Would you agree that China sees eye to eye with the West regarding other ethical concerns such as copyright, patents, organ transplants, or genocide?

The cost of ethical science is well known, and still proper democratic countries deny themselves the ignorance of human rights that is prevalent in China. Your comments read like quoted from Nazi Germany medical research in the 1940s. Welcome to the present.

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