Designer babies is the start. Like I already believe if you're "selecting" something like your baby's gender, you're fuckin Hitler. But then, my roommate was all, "Well what if you could remove the trait for Huntington's that runs in the family?"
So there's clearly a spectrum of ways that genetic engineering could go.
The most interesting case to me is of He Jianku, who reportedly began studying and modifying human embryos. CIA fear disinfo, or Chinese scientists just marching ahead and setting the new standards of the 21st century?
I’m not trying to minimize the actual lives of disabled persons. I am an autistic person, my girlfriend is a disabled person with a genetic disorder. The needs of your cousin, my girlfriend, and people who struggle because of physiological issues together have a wide range of needs that need to be properly considered and figured how to supply on societal level. I mean, me and your cousin are lumped in together as “autistic” but our struggles are wildly far apart. My point is that you cannot just throw all of these varied things into a single monolithic category, and then write up a neat solution like “oh gene therapy will fix all of these problems”. This kind of thinking is just deep baked liberal thinking, and I’m advocating against that kind of thinking. It does not serve those who actually struggle and need committed help if they are to have a decent and dignified quality of life.
But if we can cure severe autism with gene therapy why is that an issue? And like my cousin is accommodated. No amount of cultural changes are going to fix the fact that he is severely disabled.