Human enhancement [English translation of chapter 4 from: 'Signalering ethiek en gezondheid 2003' (2003/08)]

Under the influence of scientific and technological developments, the theme of ‘engineering people’ is receiving increasing attention. The health care system also, to an increasing degree, has to deal with the possibilities provided by the biomedical sciences for perfecting healthy people in accordance with their own preferences. In medical ethics, this theme is known as ‘enhancement’: the use of genetic, biomedical or pharmacological knowledge to make improvements in human characteristics.