The Nation · By Dr. María Victoria Ibáñez-Soto · Monday, July 13, 2026
Embryonic gene editing as a false public health imperative
An extensive article in La Nación (Argentina) actively promotes the legislative debate to allow genetic modification through CRISPR in human embryos. The text interviews prominent secular bioethicists who argue that correcting genetic defects before implantation is not only medically safe, but constitutes a "moral duty" of parents towards their future children. They suggest that to reject this technology on religious grounds is to deliberately condemn future generations to avoidable suffering.
Of The Nation
"Depriving future citizens of embryonic gene therapy in the name of outdated dogma is a form of medical malpractice. If we possess the molecular tools to eradicate disease predispositions and improve basic cognitive abilities from conception, society has the ethical imperative to universalize this access to create healthier and more functional populations."
Editorial rereading
The sophistry displayed in the pages of La Nación is a textbook example of how the culture of death disguises itself as medical compassion to advance its eugenic agenda. What self-styled secular bioethicists present as a "public health imperative" is in reality the resurrection of the worst genetic selection doctrines of the 20th century, this time packaged in the asepsis of molecular laboratories and the jargon of modern biotechnology.
From the point of view of natural law and rigorous human biology, an embryo is not a conglomerate of cells susceptible to being manipulated, redesigned or discarded if it does not meet the quality control standards required by society or parents. It is a complete human person, in its initial phase of development, endowed with an infinite and untouchable dignity that does not depend on its physical perfection or its future social usefulness. The CRISPR technique, applied to the human germ line, crosses an insurmountable ethical limit: it turns procreation into a manufacturing process, where the child stops being a gift received with unconditional love and becomes a custom-designed product, subject to the whim or "planning" of its parents.
Furthermore, the claim to eradicate all physical suffering by modifying human heredity reveals a fundamental philosophical misunderstanding of the nature of temporal life. Suffering and illness are inescapable realities of the fallen human condition, and it is precisely in the face of fragility that the highest virtues of compassionate love, solidarity, and Christian charity flourish. Trying to create a race of "perfect" superhumans free of genetic defects is not only biologically risky—given the immense complexity of the off-target effects of genomic editing—but it is a supreme act of Promethean arrogance. We will not allow the sanctity of human life to be desecrated under the deceptive banner of techno-scientific progress. Defending the natural biological order is defending the very essence of our humanity.
*Legal Note: This critical analysis is carried out under the protection of Art. 28 (news of general interest) and Art. 10 (right of citation) of Law 11,723 on Intellectual Property of the Argentine Republic. The original work and its title belong to its respective author and publication medium, cited on this page.*
LEGAL NOTE ON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND FAIR USE (LAW 11,723)
The editorial analysis and critical refutation constitute an original intellectual work of Editorial Santa Jacinta (DNDA File Registration No. RL-2026-42754029-APN-DNDA#MJ). The critical analysis of sources and the reproduction of extracts are carried out under the protection of Art. 28 (news of general interest) and Art. 10 (right of citation) of Law 11,723 on Intellectual Property of the Argentine Republic and the Berne Convention. The copyright on the original journalistic work belongs to The Nation, properly linked. The quotation or partial informative reproduction of the editorial analysis is authorized, mandatory citing the source ("Editorial Santa Jacinta") with an active link to https://santajacinta.com.ar/relectura/edicion-genetica-falso-imperativo-lanacion.
