Editing Brave New World (section)

===Common misunderstandings===
{{Human enhancement sidebar}}
{{see also|Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder|Eugenics#In science fiction|Island (Huxley novel)}}
Various authors assume that the book was first and foremost a [[cautionary tale]] regarding [[human genetic enhancement|human genetic ''enhancement'']],<ref>McGee G. (2000). ''The Perfect Baby: Parenthood in the New World of Cloning and Genetics.'' Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield</ref><ref>Elliott C. (2003). ''Better Than Well: American Medicine Meets the American Dream.'' New York: W.W. Norton</ref><ref>Spar D. (2006). ''The Baby Business: How Money, Science and Politics Drive the Commerce of Conception''. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press</ref> indeed about – as an infamous report of [[Presidency of George W. Bush|Bush]] associate [[Leon Kass]] states –: "producing improved [,][...] perfect or post-human" people.<ref>2003. President's Council on Bioethics. Beyond Therapy. Washington, DC: President's Council on Bioethics</ref> In fact, the title itself has become a mere stand-in used to "evoke the general idea of a futuristic dystopia".<ref name="So">So, Derek (2019). "The Use and Misuse of Brave New World in the CRISPR Debate." ''CRISPR J.'' 2(5):316-323. doi:10.1089/crispr.2019.0046. PMID 31599683.</ref>
Geneticist Derek So suggests that this is a misunderstanding, however.{{r|So|p=318}} According to him, a 'more careful reading of the text' shows that:
<blockquote>there does not seem to be any genetic testing in ''Brave New World'', and most of the methods described involve hormones and chemicals rather than heritable interventions. Although Huxley wrote that "<noinclude>[[</noinclude>eugenics<noinclude>]]</noinclude> and [[dysgenics]] were practiced systematically", this seems to refer only to selective breeding and not to any kind of direct manipulation on the genetic level. (The Bokanovsky process does represent a form of cloning, but this is not ethically equivalent to germline genome editing, and references to ''Brave New World'' may lead some readers to confuse the two technologies.) [...] While it's true that the upper castes in ''Brave New World'' are smarter than the others, this is more because of the deliberate impairment of the lower castes than because the upper castes are "perfect". Rather than reducing the number of individuals born with genetic disorders or handicaps, Huxley's dystopia involves dramatically increasing their number. [...] Quite the opposite: Huxley thought that ''Brave New World'' might come about if we ''didn't'' start selecting better children.{{r|So|p=318-9}}</blockquote>
Overall, Derek So notes that "Huxley was much more worried about totalitarianism than about the new biotechnologies per se that he alluded to in Brave New World."<ref name = "So"/><ref>Fletcher J. (1988). ''The Ethics of Genetic Control: Ending Genetic Roulette.'' Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books.</ref>
Despite claims to the contrary then, Huxley remained a committed eugenicist all throughout his life,<ref>Kevles DJ. (1985). ''In the Name of Eugenics: Genetics and the Uses of Human Heredity.'' New York: Knopf</ref> much like his comparably famous brother [[Julian Huxley|Julian]], and one just as keen on stressing its [[Julian Huxley#Secular humanism|humanistic underpinnings]].<ref>Woiak, Joanne (2007). "Designing a Brave New World: Eugenics, Politics, and Fiction." ''The Public Historian'', 29(3), 105–129. https://doi.org/10.1525/tph.2007.29.3.105</ref>