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The Federation and Genetic Modification: An Historical Summary

The purpose of this post is to examine the history of genetic modification in the Federation, prior to "Strange New Worlds". I've tried to compile various references to genetic engineering, eugenics, cloning, and genetic resequencing within the Federation across all series, with quotes and additional context as needed. All examples are presented in real-world chronological order, to better examine how these ideas have evolved over the history of the franchise.

The first reference to eugenics I could find is in the Original Series episode, "The Conscience of the King". In that episode, they briefly described how Kodos was employing his own theories of eugenics when he enacted the massacre at Tarsus IV:

Spock: Kodos began to separate the colonists. Some would live, be rationed whatever food was left. The remainder would be immediately put to death. Apparently, he had his own theories of eugenics.

McCoy: Unfortunately, he wasn't the first.

Spock: Perhaps not. But he was certainly among the most ruthless; to decide arbitrarily who would survive and who would not, using his own personal standards, and then to implement his decision without mercy. Children watching their parents die. Whole families destroyed. Over four thousand people. They died quickly, without pain, but they died. Relief arrived, but too late to prevent the executions.

The subject comes up again, of course, in "Space Seed", when Khan and his fellow prisoners are discovered:

McCoy: The Eugenics Wars.

Spock: Of course. Your attempt to improve the race through selective breeding.

A later statement from Kirk affirms the root cause of the Eugenics Wars:

Kirk: An improved breed of human. That's what the Eugenics War was all about.

Spock is the first to suggest that there was a fatal flaw in the engineering process:

Pock: In 1993, a group of these young supermen did seize power simultaneously in over forty nations.

Kirk: Well, they were hardly supermen. They were aggressive, arrogant. They began to battle among themselves.

Spock: Because the scientists overlooked one fact. Superior ability breeds superior ambition.

Kirk: Interesting, if true. They created a group of Alexanders, Napoleons.

Khan himself has some thoughts on his own abilities relative to the rest of humanity:

Khan: Captain, although your abilities intrigue me, you are quite honestly inferior. Mentally, physically. In fact, I am surprised how little improvement there has been in human evolution. Oh, there has been technical advancement, but, how little man himself has changed.

Little is said about genetic engineering for quite some time, until we get to The Next Generation's "Unnatural Selection". This one appears to be a bit of an outlier, given what we later learn about genetic enhancement, but it may be possible to reconcile it. When the Enterprise crew first meet Dr. Kingsley of the Darwin Genetic Research Station, she makes the nature of her research seem as innocuous as possible:

Kingsley: Our research here is limited to human genetics. I can assure you we're not dealing with something that got away from us. We believe that we were infected by a supply ship that was here three days ago.

Later, she acknowledges that the children aboard the station are genetically enhanced, with an interesting caveat:

Kingsley: Our ultimate achievement. The oldest is twelve, and all are telekinetic. Watch.

Pulaski: Genetically engineered?

Kingsley: Not engineered, created. Perfect in every way. Their body structure, their musculature, their minds.

I find it very interesting that Kingsley draws this line between "engineering" and "creation" - this distinction seems to hold some relevance to her, but it's not explored in the episode itself. Could Federation law draw a distinction between genetic modification of living individuals and cloning?

This episode also gives us an example of a genetic medical treatment of sorts, when the transporters are modified to filter out the genetic changes Pulaski endured when she transported over to the Darwin station.

Another Next Generation episode, "Up the Long Ladder", reveals some attitudes about cloning, specifically:

Riker: You want to clone us?

Granger: Yes.

Riker: No way, not me.

Granger: How can you possibly be harmed?>

Riker: It's not a question of harm. One William Riker is unique, perhaps even special. But a hundred of him, a thousand of him diminishes me in ways I can't even imagine.

Notably, when Riker and Pulaski are cloned without their knowledge or consent, Riker destroys the clones outright while they are still developing.

The episode also mentions "replicative fading," a process by which errors creep into the chromosomes of clones across successive generations, until the clones are no longer viable.

In Deep Space Nine's "A Man Alone", Odo arrests Ibudan for murdering his own clone in an attempt to frame Odo for murder:

Odo: Killing your own clone is still murder.

Notably, Odo is likely referring to Bajoran law, not Federation law, in this case.

The Next Generation's "Bloodlines" contains an early reference to DNA resequencing, a term which will be used more frequently going forward. It is also another example of flawed genetic manipulation:

Picard: You know as well as I do, Bok, he's not my son. I know what you've done. Miranda Vigo is his mother but I am not his father. You made it appear so because you resequenced his DNA. But your technique was flawed. He developed a neurological disorder. When my ship's Doctor investigated it, she discovered what you had done.

Later, Jason Vigo notes that he is responding well to an unspecified treatment provided by Doctor Crusher, and that the damage caused by the DNA resequencing may be completely reversed.

Federation law regarding genetic enhancements starts to come into focus in Deep Space Nine's "Doctor Bashir, I Presume":

O'Brien: You're not a fraud. I don't care what enhancements your parents may have had done. Genetic recoding can't give you ambition, or a personality, or compassion or any of the things that make a person truly human.

Bashir: Starfleet Medical won't see it that way. DNA resequencing for any reason other than repairing serious birth defects is illegal. Any genetically enhanced human being is barred from serving in Starfleet or practising medicine.

Later, Rear Admiral Bennett makes the case for these laws, echoing the sentiments of Spock in "Space Seed":

Bennett: Two hundred years ago we tried to improve the species through DNA resequencing, and what did we get for our trouble? The Eugenics Wars. For every Julian Bashir that can be created, there's a Khan Singh waiting in the wings. A superhuman whose ambition and thirst for power have been enhanced along with his intellect. The law against genetic engineering provides a firewall against such men and it's my job to keep that firewall intact.

It's interesting that ambition is something specifically cited by O'Brien that cannot be influenced by genetic resequencing, while Bennett says that it can.

In Voyager's "The Raven", the EMH uses genetic resequencing to neutralize Seven of Nine's nanoprobes. Borg nanoprobes are obviously not a birth defect, so it appears that other medical uses of resequencing are considered ethical and legal.

Continued in the comments...

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  • Deep Space Nine's "Statistical Probabilities" contains a number of conversations about the Federations laws surrounding genetic enhancement, and their effects.

    Bashir: I did my best not to exploit my abilities.

    Jack: So no one would suspect. Very clever. I'm impressed. That's not right. There are reasons why DNA resequencing is illegal. There are reasons why people like us are barred from serving in Starfleet. We have an advantage. Normal people can't compete. It's not fair.

    Bashir: Maybe you're right. Maybe I should have said something sooner.

    Jack: There are rules. Don't talk with your mouth full. Don't open an airlock when somebody's inside it. And don't lie about your genetic status. No, no, no. You did, you lied. And then, when you got caught, you cut a deal with Starfleet. You got yourself off the hook.

    Patrick: If you'd told the truth, you could have lived with us at the Institute.

    Jack: He's right, you know. Then they would have put you away.

    Bashir: They don't put people away for being genetically engineered.

    Jack: No, no, no, no they just won't let us do anything that's worth doing. No, no. They are afraid that people like us are going to take over.

    Bashir: It happened before. People like us did try and take over.

    Jack: Oh, no, no. I knew you were going to do that. I knew you were going to trot out the Eugenics Wars.

    Bashir: I'm not trotting anything out. All I'm saying is there's a reason we've been barred from certain professions. But that doesn't mean we can't be productive members of society.

    Jack: Here it comes. The we can still contribute speech. No. No, no, no, no. I will not forget what was done to me. I will not be part of a society that put me away for being too smart. No, no.

    Also in this episode, Bashir acknowledges that resequencing methods can be imperfect (perhaps particularly when it is forced to be done "underground"):

    Bashir: My parents managed to find a decent doctor to perform the DNA resequencing on me. These four weren't so lucky. They all suffered unintended side effects. By the time they were five or six, their parents were forced to come forward and admit that they'd broken the law so that their children could get treatment.

    Sisko: Perhaps they waited too long.

    Bashir: There was nothing the doctors at the Institute could do for them. These cases are so rare there's no standard treatment.

    There's also a debate about the laws and regulations surrounding resequencing. For the first time, the possibility of a "genetic arms race" is raised - in fact, Odo (seemingly erroneously) claims that this is why the laws were enacted:

    Worf: It is not a laughing matter. If people like them are allowed to compete freely, then parents would feel pressured to have their children enhanced so that they could keep up.

    Odo: That's precisely what prompted the ban on DNA resequencing in the first place.

    Bashir: Giving them a chance to contribute doesn't necessarily mean sanctioning what was done to them. They didn't ask to have their DNA tampered with. They were only children. And why should they be excluded just because their parents broke the law?

    Sisko: You're right. It's not quite fair. But even so, it seemed like a good way to discourage genetic tampering.

    O'Brien: Besides, it's not as if we're trying to exclude them from anything. We're just talking about limiting what they're allowed to do.

    Bashir: Like joining Starfleet.

    Worf: Exactly.

    Bashir: Are you saying that I shouldn't be allowed to wear this uniform?

    Worf: Well, you are an exception.

    Bashir: An exception. I should be used to that, I've been one all my life. First because of the DNA resequencing, and now because I've been allowed to join Starfleet.

    In "Tears of the Prophets", there's a brief scene which suggests Bashir has been providing Jadzia Dax with treatment designed to make her DNA more compatible with Worf's:

    Bashir: According to the DNA scans I did this morning, the ovarian resequencing enzymes I gave you appear to be working.

    Dax: You mean Worf and I can have a baby?

    Bashir: It certainly looks that way. I must say, I didn't expect such positive results so early. It's quite amazing, actually.

    In "Chrysalis", there is another brief debate on the way the Federation has chosen to treat resequenced individuals:

    Sisko: Doctor, I appreciate that you feel a connection to them because you're genetically engineered yourself, but they have displayed a consistent disregard for the rules that the rest of society lives by.

    Bashir: Maybe that's because they're not allowed to live in society.

    Sisko: We are not here to debate Federation policy toward the genetically enhanced. We are here to discuss what to do about these people now that they're aboard.

    Bashir has thoughts about his personal experience:

    Bashir: All these years I've had to hide the fact that my DNA had been resequenced. I'd listen to people talk about the genetically engineered, saying they were all misfits. I used to fantasise about meeting someone who was like me, who could live a normal life.

    In Voyager's "The Fight", Chakotay reveals that he received genetic treatment before birth. This is not presented as something that should be seen as controversial:

    EMH: Chakotay has the genetic marker for a cognitive disorder. Sensory tremens. The primary symptoms are visual and auditory hallucinations.

    Chakotay: My family doctor suppressed the gene before I was even born, so I never had to go through what the others did, like my grandfather.

    "Lineage" also delves into the medical ethics of genetic resequencing, as Torres wrestles with some complex emotions regarding her pregnancy. First, the Doctor identifies an issue that can be addressed with routine genetic modification:

    EMH: Yes. It's a girl. And aside from the deviated spine, she's healthy.

    Paris: Will she need surgery?

    EMH: Fortunately, we've advanced beyond that. Genetic modification is the treatment of choice.

    However, Torres later requests some modifications that the Doctor is unwilling to perform:

    EMH: There's no valid medical reason to do what you're proposing.

    Torres: I disagree.

    EMH: You want to delete entire DNA sequences. The genes that create redundant organs, for example.

    Torres brings her wishes to Captain Janeway, who refuses to order the Doctor to perform the procedure. Notably, Janeway does not cite Federation law, and discusses ethics instead:

    Torres: I want you to order the Doctor to genetically alter my child.

    Paris: Do you see what I'm dealing with here?

    Janeway: What you're asking for is ethically questionable. The Doctor has reservations. Your husband is against it.

    Torres ends up tampering with the Doctor's program in an attempt to force him to do the procedure, and it does lead to him makng a medical case for it (albeit one based on falsified information):

    EMH (after being tampered with): The genetic alterations you've suggested are necessary.

    Paris: On what grounds?

    EMH: The clash I mentioned between Klingon and human metabolism? It's more extensive than I realised.

    Torres: How extensive?

    EMH: Theoretically, it could lead to complete metabolic failure.

    In "Imperfection", Icheb devises a genetic resequencing technique that will allow him to regulate his Borg implants without a cortical node, which he donates to Seven of Nine.

    • Enterprise delves into the Eugenics Wars in a number of season four episodes. The series also introduces a new term to describe enhanced individuals: augment. Of course, this series predates the Federation, so all references to the law are referring to Earth law, specifically. from the context, I think it's possible that later Federation law are at least slightly more permissive.

      In "Borderland", the merits of genetic engineering are discussed several times. First, Archer has an exchange with Arik Soong:

      Archer: Why invest so much time and energy on things no one will ever use?

      Soong: How can a supposedly intelligent species reject technology that would enhance ability, relieve suffering?

      Archer: Genetic engineering has caused a lot of suffering.

      Soong: So did splitting the atom, yet the first ships to colonise the solar system were nuclear-powered. But you're not here to discuss that.

      Later, Phlox reveals that genetic engineering is fairly routine amongst his own people. Despite this, he seems generally supportive of Earth's laws surrounding augmentation:

      Soong: I didn't realise you shared humanity's reactionary attitude toward this field of medicine.

      Phlox: On the contrary, we've used genetic engineering on Denobula for over two centuries, to generally positive effect.

      Soong: But you don't approve of what I've done.

      Phlox: You tried to redesign your species. The first time that was attempted on Earth, the result was thirty million deaths.

      Soong: We can't let past mistakes hold us back.

      Phlox: It's your responsibility as a scientist to learn from past mistakes.

      Soong: Well, what makes you think I haven't?

      Phlox: I can read.

      Soong also tries to play to Archer's emotions:

      Soong: They're the future. They're stronger, smarter, free from sickness, with life spans twice as long as our own. You, more than anyone, should appreciate what this means.

      Archer: Why me?

      Soong: Your father suffered from Clarke's Disease. His final years were marked with extreme pain.

      Archer: My father has nothing to do with this.

      Soong: He didn't need to suffer. Genetic engineering could've cured him. Those who want to suppress my Augments are the same ones who condemned your father to death. Turn the ship around, Captain. Go home. Leave them alone.

      In "Cold Station 12", it seems Soong's argument got to Archer, although it has not changed his resolve:

      Phlox: You might be interested to know Smike's become quite the student of Earth history. He's been reading up on the Eugenics Wars.

      Archer: I doubt Soong gave him the whole story.

      Phlox: I'm quite familiar with the subject myself. Human intellect and human instinct were out of sync. So many people were killed.

      Archer: The official number was thirty million. Some historians say it was closer to thirty five.

      Phlox: I can understand why Earth banned genetic engineering.

      Archer: What do you know about Clarke's syndrome?

      Phlox: It's a degenerative brain disorder that afflicts humans.

      Archer: My father died of it when I was twelve.

      Phlox: I'm sorry.

      Archer: He had frequent pain, hallucinations, he talked to people who weren't there. Often couldn't recognise me or my mother. The last two years of his life...

      Phlox: And you were thinking if genetic engineering had been permitted-

      Archer: Maybe Soong has a point.

      Phlox: I've had time to examine his work more closely. I'm forced to admit some of it is extremely inventive. He's really quite brilliant. It's a shame such a man has to remain incarcerated.

      Archer: He broke the law. That's why he was in prison. And that's why I'm going to make sure he goes back. Denobula perfected genetic engineering a long time ago, but you never came close to destroying yourselves.

      Phlox: Perhaps we were simply fortunate.

      Archer: Or maybe your instincts had caught up with your intellect.

      In "The Augments", we return to the notion that violent behaviour is inherent to augmented individuals (or, at least, these remnants from the Eugenics Wars):

      Malik: You're manipulating its DNA.

      Soong: These base-pairs sequences regulate the neurotransmitter levels in their brain. If I can modify them, aggression and violent behaviour will be removed.

      Malik: You're changing its personality.

      Soong: I'm correcting a defect in its genome. Genetic engineering was in its infancy when you were created. They weren't able to repair all the mistakes.

      Malik: Did you fix these mistakes in the rest of us?

      Soong: I didn't know how until recently.

      Malik: What right do you have to tamper with their genome?

      Soong: Trust me. I know what I'm doing.

      Malik: You don't know that this is a defect. Maybe this is the way our creators wanted us to be.

      Later, Archer manages to quote words that Spock won't utter for decades, though it appears Spock had lifted that from someone else without attributing it properly:

      Soong: What do you want me to say? That you were right about them, and I was wrong? Maybe things would have been different if I'd been there for them, if Starfleet hadn't locked me away.

      Archer: None of that would have mattered in the end. It's in their nature. They were engineered to be this way. Superior ability breeds superior ambition. One of their creators wrote that. He was murdered by an Augment.

      Finally, Discovery acknowledges the laws surrounding DNA resequencing in "Choose Your Pain":

      Burnham: So far, we found one viable workaround. This hypospray contains Tardigrade DNA and replication catalysts that will initiate rapid horizontal gene transfer in a host. The interface process requires an evolved organism, a species with a highly functioning nervous system. And one that, like the Tardigrade, shares genetic information with mushrooms. The animal kingdom may have diverted from its fungal counterparts 600 million years ago, but Homo Sapiens still share over half of our DNA with them.

      Saru: You want to use a human? Eugenics experiments are forbidden.

      Burnham: I know. And that's why we need more time.

      Of course, Stamets ends up augmenting himself with Ripper's DNA, which the Federation tolerates out of necessity.

      This concludes my historical summary of the Federation's history with genetic modification. Obviously, Strange New Worlds has delved further into this, and I welcome commentary that ties those more recent episodes to this history.

      My primary takeaways from this summary are:

      • The regulations surrounding genetic resequencing stem from Earth laws enacted following the Eugenics Wars. It's possible that those Earth laws were stricter than the later Federation laws, as certain medical interventions appear to have not been permitted, while it seems that they may have been later.

      • In the Federation, genetic manipulation is permitted when there is a medical need, and possibly to enable cross-species reproduction.

      • Individuals who have received resequencing are prone to unintended side effects, which the Federation has had limited success in addressing.

      • Individuals who have received resequencing have also discussed being disrciminated against, both legally in the sense of being barred from certain professions, as well as socially.

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