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The arrogance of teratology: A brief chronology of attitudes throughout history

While the discipline of Teratology has existed for about 60 years, there has been a deep interest in the causes of human malformations for millennia. Absent the scientific method and acting on fervent beliefs that made sense to ancient/medieval populations, “mechanisms” were described and prognostic...

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Autor principal: DeSesso, John M.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7432190/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30516026
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/bdr2.1422
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author DeSesso, John M.
author_facet DeSesso, John M.
author_sort DeSesso, John M.
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description While the discipline of Teratology has existed for about 60 years, there has been a deep interest in the causes of human malformations for millennia. Absent the scientific method and acting on fervent beliefs that made sense to ancient/medieval populations, “mechanisms” were described and prognostications of future events were assigned to terata resulting in tragic (and unwarranted) sequelae. This article examines the collective beliefs and thinking within various eras in the hope of providing lessons to inform future behavior. The eugenics movement is an informative, recent example. Science of the 19th century had unraveled some of the mysteries of development and the role of genetics in determining birth outcomes. There was, however, a deep misunderstanding about the enormous amount of information that had yet to be uncovered. Based on immature science and faulty assumptions, it was suggested that “unfit” individuals be euthanized and their parents sterilized. Such “solutions” would be considered deplorable today. Surprisingly, such a reprehensible program was supported (at least in part) by many intelligent and highly regarded individuals. Today, it is imperative that we enter into the era of molecular biology and gene editing cautiously and perspicaciously. The history of teratology has elucidated our inability to understand where our new technologies and actions might take us and how unintended consequences could disrupt even our most carefully thought‐out plans.
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spelling pubmed-74321902020-08-20 The arrogance of teratology: A brief chronology of attitudes throughout history DeSesso, John M. Birth Defects Res Review Article While the discipline of Teratology has existed for about 60 years, there has been a deep interest in the causes of human malformations for millennia. Absent the scientific method and acting on fervent beliefs that made sense to ancient/medieval populations, “mechanisms” were described and prognostications of future events were assigned to terata resulting in tragic (and unwarranted) sequelae. This article examines the collective beliefs and thinking within various eras in the hope of providing lessons to inform future behavior. The eugenics movement is an informative, recent example. Science of the 19th century had unraveled some of the mysteries of development and the role of genetics in determining birth outcomes. There was, however, a deep misunderstanding about the enormous amount of information that had yet to be uncovered. Based on immature science and faulty assumptions, it was suggested that “unfit” individuals be euthanized and their parents sterilized. Such “solutions” would be considered deplorable today. Surprisingly, such a reprehensible program was supported (at least in part) by many intelligent and highly regarded individuals. Today, it is imperative that we enter into the era of molecular biology and gene editing cautiously and perspicaciously. The history of teratology has elucidated our inability to understand where our new technologies and actions might take us and how unintended consequences could disrupt even our most carefully thought‐out plans. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2018-12-04 2019-02-01 /pmc/articles/PMC7432190/ /pubmed/30516026 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/bdr2.1422 Text en © 2018 The Author. Birth Defects Research published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. This is an open access article under the terms of the http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.
spellingShingle Review Article
DeSesso, John M.
The arrogance of teratology: A brief chronology of attitudes throughout history
title The arrogance of teratology: A brief chronology of attitudes throughout history
title_full The arrogance of teratology: A brief chronology of attitudes throughout history
title_fullStr The arrogance of teratology: A brief chronology of attitudes throughout history
title_full_unstemmed The arrogance of teratology: A brief chronology of attitudes throughout history
title_short The arrogance of teratology: A brief chronology of attitudes throughout history
title_sort arrogance of teratology: a brief chronology of attitudes throughout history
topic Review Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7432190/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30516026
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/bdr2.1422
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