Has the introduction of genetic techniques in medicine occasioned an anthropological rupture?

Abstract

In this article, a set of theoretical positions concerning the application of genetics in medicine is expounded and discussed, with the aim of examining a possible anthropological rupture. A thesis is defended about the dehumanization of medicine which arises as a consequence of the implementation of biotechnological procedures that aim at preventing and treating diseases associated to genetic phenomena and to human reproduction. According to this view, the "genetization" of medicine comes together with an ideology which should be denounced for challenging human dignity and liberty. After a critical examination of the actual impact of genetics in medicine, concrete cases of medical applications of genomics are analised in which contrary and favourable positions to the thesis of the dehumanizing character of genetization are compared.