A recent Fox News segment highlighting an appearance by Andrew Yang on The Will Cain Show has thrown a bright spotlight on one of the most profound debates of our time: whether technology to genetically modify babies is truly “along the horizon.” Americans should pay close attention when prominent voices start treating the genetic re-engineering of our children like just another policy debate, because this is not merely about science — it is about who we are as a nation and what limits we place on human dignity.
Yang’s comments, framed as a cautious acknowledgment of possibility, reveal the growing normalization of a concept conservatives have every right to fear: that elites will treat human life as an engineering problem to be optimized. When technocrats and venture-backed researchers talk openly about editing embryos, it is the average American family — not lab directors — who will live with the long-term consequences. The question isn’t only can we do it, but whether a free and moral society should allow it.
Scientists are making real technical strides that put this debate into the realm of practical policy sooner than many predicted, thanks to advances in gene-editing tools like base editing and improved delivery methods that increase efficiency and lower risks. Those breakthroughs have prompted predictions in some corners that germline interventions could move from the lab into the clinic unless checked by firm laws and clear moral boundaries.
We already have a historical warning: rogue experiments and the rush to be first have led to scandal and ethical catastrophe before, as seen when researchers in China announced births from CRISPR-edited embryos, provoking international outrage and regulatory crackdowns. That episode should be a wake-up call that once you open the door to altering human heredity, the temptation for shortcuts and secrecy will be irresistible to some.
The ethical literature is not blind to the peril; scholars and bioethicists continue to urge caution, robust oversight, and a public debate about the moral limits of germline editing. This isn’t the sort of thing that should be outsourced to bio-hackers, Big Tech funders, or a handful of university labs; it demands national deliberation and laws that reflect our values, not Silicon Valley’s profit motives.
Conservatives must lead the pushback, because this issue sits at the intersection of life, liberty, and the responsibility to protect future generations. Left unchecked, the combination of wealthy elites, transnational clinics, and permissive regulators could create a two-tiered society where the well-off buy genetic advantages for their children while everyone else is left behind — a new form of inequality our country must reject.
This is about more than partisan headlines; it’s about whether America will be the land that protects the sanctity of human life or the place where human beings are parceled out to the highest bidder. Lawmakers, parents, and patriots should demand transparency, strict prohibitions on germline enhancement, and clear criminal penalties for those who would experiment on future Americans. The promise of science should never trump the duty to safeguard our children and our national character.
