The influence of human enhancement on ourselves and our society. Human enhancement, or the use of biomedical technologies like medicine or medical procedures by healthy users to improve themselves, offers attractive possibilities in the eyes of some scholars. Other scholars, on the other hand, vehemently reject improving healthy human beings with biomedical technologies. But what are the technologies that evoke these radically different reactions? And how can society deal with the (expected) rise of these technologies? To explore these questions, I will first discuss some human enhancement technologies and will explore how the general public views human enhancement technologies. Based on this, I will then discuss some recommendations for the governance of human enhancement and the urgency of thinking and talking about technologies that have the ability to radically alter ourselves.

About Mirjam Schuijff:

Mirjam Schuijff is a researcher Technology Assessment at the Rathenau Instituut. The Rathenau Instituut promotes the formation of political and public opinion on science and technology. To this end, the Instituut studies the organization and development of science systems, publishes about social impact of new technologies, and organizes debates on issues and dilemmas in science and technology.