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Ward K. Too good for this world: moral bioenhancement and the ethics of making moral misfits. MEDICAL HUMANITIES 2024; 50:144-152. [PMID: 37932030 DOI: 10.1136/medhum-2023-012709] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/02/2023] [Indexed: 11/08/2023]
Abstract
Persson and Savulescu argue that moral bioenhancement is not only morally permissible; in some cases, it is morally obligatory. In this article, I introduce a new reason to worry about moral enhancement. I adapt the disability concept of misfit to show how moral enhancement could cause extreme moral disempowerment to those enhanced, which would result in moral injury. I argue that any safety framework that guides the development of moral bioenhancement must be sensitive to the problem of moral misfitting. I present the best case for moral bioenhancement before turning to my own worry concerning the development of moral bioenhancement and its practical implications. Finally, I consider a series of objections and responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katherine Ward
- Philosophy, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, USA
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Dobewall H, Keltikangas-Järvinen L, Marttila S, Mishra PP, Saarinen A, Cloninger CR, Zwir I, Kähönen M, Hurme M, Raitakari O, Lehtimäki T, Hintsanen M. The relationship of trait-like compassion with epigenetic aging: The population-based prospective Young Finns Study. Front Psychiatry 2023; 14:1018797. [PMID: 37143783 PMCID: PMC10151573 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1018797] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2022] [Accepted: 03/17/2023] [Indexed: 05/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Helping others within and beyond the family has been related to living a healthy and long life. Compassion is a prosocial personality trait characterized by concern for another person who is suffering and the motivation to help. The current study examines whether epigenetic aging is a potential biological mechanism that explains the link between prosociality and longevity. Methods We used data from the Young Finns Study that follows six birth-cohorts from age 3-18 to 19-49. Trait-like compassion for others was measured with the Temperament and Character Inventory in the years 1997 and 2001. Epigenetic age acceleration and telomere length were measured with five DNA methylation (DNAm) indicators (DNAmAgeHorvath, IEAA_Hannum, EEAA_Hannum, DNAmPhenoAge, and DNAmTL) based on blood drawn in 2011. We controlled for sex, socioeconomic status in childhood and adulthood, and body-mass index. Results and discussion An association between higher compassion in 1997 and a less accelerated DNAmPhenoAge, which builds on previous work on phenotypic aging, approached statistical significance in a sex-adjusted model (n = 1,030; b = -0.34; p = 0.050). Compassion in 1997 predicted less accelerated epigenetic aging over and above the control variables (n = 843; b = -0.47; p = 0.016). There was no relationship between compassion in 2001 (n = 1108/910) and any of the other four studied epigenetic aging indicators. High compassion for others might indeed influence whether an individual's biological age is lower than their chronological age. The conducted robustness checks partially support this conclusion, yet cannot rule out that there might be a broader prosocial trait behind the findings. The observed associations are interesting but should be interpreted as weak requiring replication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Henrik Dobewall
- Faculty of Education, VISE Research Unit, Faculty of Education and Psychology, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
- Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland
- *Correspondence: Henrik Dobewall,
| | | | - Saara Marttila
- Molecular Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
- Gerontology Research Center, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
| | - Pashupati P. Mishra
- Molecular Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
- Fimlab Laboratories and Finnish Cardiovascular Research Center - Tampere, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
| | - Aino Saarinen
- Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - C. Robert Cloninger
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, United States
| | - Igor Zwir
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, United States
- Department of Computer Science, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Mika Kähönen
- Department of Clinical Physiology, Tampere University Hospital and Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
| | - Mikko Hurme
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
| | - Olli Raitakari
- Research Centre of Applied and Preventive Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Department of Clinical Physiology and Nuclear Medicine, Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
- Centre for Population Health Research, University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
| | - Terho Lehtimäki
- Molecular Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
- Fimlab Laboratories and Finnish Cardiovascular Research Center - Tampere, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
| | - Mirka Hintsanen
- Faculty of Education, VISE Research Unit, Faculty of Education and Psychology, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
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Dobewall H, Keltikangas-Järvinen L, Saarinen A, Lyytikäinen LP, Zwir I, Cloninger R, Raitakari OT, Lehtimäki T, Hintsanen M. Genetic differential susceptibility to the parent-child relationship quality and the life span development of compassion. Dev Psychobiol 2021; 63:e22184. [PMID: 34423428 DOI: 10.1002/dev.22184] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2020] [Revised: 06/26/2021] [Accepted: 07/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
The development of compassion for others might be influenced by the social experiences made during childhood and has a genetic component. No research has yet investigated whether the parent-child relationship quality interacts with genetic variation in the oxytocin and dopamine systems in predicting compassion over the life span. In the prospective Young Finns Study (N = 2099, 43.9% men), we examined the interaction between mother-reported emotional warmth and intolerance toward their child assessed in 1980 (age of participants, 3-18 years) and two established genetic risk scores for oxytocin levels and dopamine signaling activity. Dispositional compassion for others was measured with the Temperament and Character Inventory 1997, 2001, and 2012 (age of participants, 20-50 years). We found a gene-environment interaction (p = .031) that remained marginally significant after adjustment for multiple testing. In line with the differential susceptibility hypothesis, only participants who carry alleles associated with low dopamine signaling activity had higher levels of compassion when growing up with emotionally warm parents, whereas they had lower levels of compassion when their parents were emotionally cold. Children's genetic variability in the dopamine system might result in plasticity to early environmental influences that have a long-lasting effect on the development of compassion. However, our findings need replication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Henrik Dobewall
- Division of Psychology, Faculty of Education, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland.,Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.,Department of Clinical Chemistry, Fimlab Laboratories, and Finnish Cardiovascular Research Center - Tampere, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
| | | | - Aino Saarinen
- Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Leo-Pekka Lyytikäinen
- Department of Clinical Chemistry, Fimlab Laboratories, and Finnish Cardiovascular Research Center - Tampere, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland.,Finnish Cardiovascular Research Center, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
| | - Igor Zwir
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, United States.,Department of Computer Science, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Robert Cloninger
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, United States
| | - Olli T Raitakari
- Centre for Population Health Research, University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland.,Research Centre of Applied and Preventive Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.,Department of Clinical Physiology and Nuclear Medicine, Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
| | - Terho Lehtimäki
- Department of Clinical Chemistry, Fimlab Laboratories, and Finnish Cardiovascular Research Center - Tampere, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland.,Finnish Cardiovascular Research Center, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
| | - Mirka Hintsanen
- Division of Psychology, Faculty of Education, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
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Tereshchenko S, Kasparov E, Zobova S, Smolnikova M, Evert L, Semenova N, Zaitseva O, Shubina M, Gorbacheva N, Lapteva L. Oxytocin Pathway Gene ( CD38, OXTR) Variants Are Not Related to Psychosocial Characteristics Defined by Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire in Adolescents: A Field School-Based Study. Front Psychiatry 2021; 12:714093. [PMID: 34434131 PMCID: PMC8380924 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.714093] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2021] [Accepted: 07/15/2021] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Background: CD38 is a transmembrane glycoprotein that regulates oxytocin (OT) production and influences social interactions. The oxytocin receptor (OXTR) has been studied intensively regarding its association with human psychosocial functions. Many studies have demonstrated a link between CD38 rs3796863 and OXTR rs53576 polymorphic regions and psychosocial characteristics as well as various psychiatric disorders in adolescents. Some studies, however, have reported null findings. Methods: The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is a brief psychopathologic screening tool recommended for detecting psychosocial problems and psychiatric disorders in adolescents. The current field school-based study, conducted among urban Siberian adolescents (n = 298 aged 12-18), explored the SDQ scales in relation to polymorphisms of the CD38 and the OXTR genes (rs3796863 and rs53576, respectively). Results: None of the studied genotypes were associated with the SDQ results for the complete sample with presumed statistical power as 0.80 to detect a medium-size effect (Cramer's V = 0.3) at α = 0.0083. Post-hoc analysis in subgroups showed that OT pathway high activity may cause some negative consequences, such as emotional instability in older (aged 15-18) adolescent boys who are carriers of the rs53576 GG variant. Conclusion: Variations at the CD38 rs3796863 and OXTR rs53576 loci were not associated with psychosocial characteristics of adolescents assessed with the SDQ. In studies with a similar design, we recommend replication with larger samples and greater power to detect small effects, especially in age-sex subgroups of adolescents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sergey Tereshchenko
- Federal Research Center "Krasnoyarsk Science Center of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences", Research Institute of Medical Problems of the North, Krasnoyarsk, Russia
| | - Edward Kasparov
- Federal Research Center "Krasnoyarsk Science Center of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences", Research Institute of Medical Problems of the North, Krasnoyarsk, Russia
| | - Svetlana Zobova
- Federal Research Center "Krasnoyarsk Science Center of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences", Research Institute of Medical Problems of the North, Krasnoyarsk, Russia.,Krasnoyarsk State Medical University, Krasnoyarsk, Russia
| | - Marina Smolnikova
- Federal Research Center "Krasnoyarsk Science Center of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences", Research Institute of Medical Problems of the North, Krasnoyarsk, Russia
| | - Lidia Evert
- Federal Research Center "Krasnoyarsk Science Center of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences", Research Institute of Medical Problems of the North, Krasnoyarsk, Russia
| | - Nadezhda Semenova
- Federal Research Center "Krasnoyarsk Science Center of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences", Research Institute of Medical Problems of the North, Krasnoyarsk, Russia
| | - Olga Zaitseva
- Federal Research Center "Krasnoyarsk Science Center of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences", Research Institute of Medical Problems of the North, Krasnoyarsk, Russia
| | - Margarita Shubina
- Federal Research Center "Krasnoyarsk Science Center of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences", Research Institute of Medical Problems of the North, Krasnoyarsk, Russia
| | - Nina Gorbacheva
- Federal Research Center "Krasnoyarsk Science Center of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences", Research Institute of Medical Problems of the North, Krasnoyarsk, Russia
| | - Ludmila Lapteva
- Federal Research Center "Krasnoyarsk Science Center of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences", Research Institute of Medical Problems of the North, Krasnoyarsk, Russia
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