Eugenics

Eugenics: Science’s Greatest Scandal episode 2: Angela and Adam also ask if eugenic-style attitudes towards the poor and disabled continue to shape today’s society, and explore if breakthroughs in medicine, such as screening and gene editing, will combine with prejudice against the disabled to bring a form of eugenics back. They weigh the undoubted benefits of modern medicine with the possibility of their misuse in the name of human enhancement. They look into the story of the first attempts to edit the genomes of humans in China and explore the latest science on the issue of what’s more important—nature or […]

Eugenics: Science’s Greatest Scandal episode 1: Journalist Angela Saini and disability rights activist Adam Pearson explore the shocking origins and legacy of eugenics in Britain and its continued influence today.     Science journalist Angela Saini and disability rights activist Adam Pearson, reveal that eugenics – the controversial idea that was a driving force behind the Nazi death camps – originated in the upper echelons of the British scientific community. The presenters uncover how shocking eugenic beliefs permeated the British establishment and intelligentsia; supporters included figures such as Winston Churchill and Marie Stopes. They see how eugenics influenced the Mental