Enhancement as a Legal Challenge

Abstract

Abstract“What better way to start the new year than with a new you?” comments Liz Dale, Transform's commercial manager, on the recent British fashion to give away cosmetic surgeries for Christmas. Creating a “new you” has become a remarkable development in the western world. In 2005, around 1 500 000 surgical cosmetic procedures have taken place among Americans, and almost 3 300 000 were treated with Botox. In many countries cosmetic surgery is one of the few medical areas which is still profitable. But beauty is just one human characteristic amenable perfecting: the enhancement of mental abilities with drugs has already become a serious problem in universities across the U.S., and the progress of genetic technology might pave the way to create a perfect next generation.