Morals and Implications of the Genophage and Other Eugenic Sterilizations!

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Alex Shelander! University of North Carolina at Charlotte! Charlotte, NC! asheland@uncc.edu!

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Abstract- The Mass effect series indicates a very real and morally ambiguous issue of racially-motivated and racial-wide sterilization. This article discusses the morals and implications of such acts.! Index Terms- Sterilization, eugenic, Nazi, experimentation, moral, Genophage, Mass Effect. ! I. Introduction! Mass sterilization, the complete or near eradication of a species via genetic experimentation. This idea has been around for ages, but what exactly does it entail? Is it morally justifiable? What implications might sterilizing an entire race have? In certain cases, sterilization is considered immoral and in others, morally justifiable; but it is certainly always a case-by-caseissue. Before we explore all these questions, I would like to draw a parallel to a very popular
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video game trilogy that I believe can be helpful in the intelligent discussion of sterilization, Mass Effect.! II. Genophage Background! Mass Effect is an original science fiction video game trilogy set in a futuristic era of a timeline based much on reality. The plot of the game extends from a point in time where a fictitious event happens while astronauts are exploring Mars. On the date 2147 CE, a group of humans discover trace amounts of Element Zero, an extremely rare element that when subjected to an electrical current creates a Mass Effect field which manipulates the mass of all objects within it. This is used in a numerous amount of scientific applications, the most notable of which stemmed from further exploration on Mars an ancient relic of technology from a long-extinct species called the Protheans, a Mass Effect relay. These relays use Element Zero to create a large Mass Effect field that allows spacecraft to slingshot themselves across the universe in mere seconds. This technology allows for humanity to join the rest of the now very old galactic empires. A number of hostile conflicts occur, fueling the need for an all-human alliance, as well as joining the council of galactic civilizations (simply known as The Council, very similar the United Nations)[9].! Fast forward a few decades, and we arrive at the events where the game begins. At this point, Commander Shepard travels to Eden Prime aboard the Normandy, a recently christened Alliance Naval Vessel, and discovers a message from the ancient Protheans, an aforementioned race now extinct. This message warns humanity as well as any other sentient race of the threat of the reapers. It is later discovered that the reapers do not believe that organic sentient beings can coexist with artificial sentient beings indefinitely, and therefore exterminate all advanced life so
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that early, undeveloped life can blossom. While this may sound evil, I am reminded greatly of the similarities of this to wildfire, which happens naturally on Earth for the exact same reason. The events that unfold from this allow for Commander Shepard to become the sole leader of the Normandy, as well as become involved in a very controversial issue not related to the Reaper threat. This threat is called The Genophage, and was devised to wipe out a race of reptilian bipeds dubbed The Krogans[9].! For a long time the ancient Krogans were exemplary architects, artists, and scientists. That was until their growth rate exploded and resources dwindled. Resource wars quickly became a reoccurring issue and soon after the race discovered nuclear arms, the Krogans launched themselves as well as their homeworld Tuchanka, into a nuclear winter. After this, the Krogans were reduced to a prehistoric state undoing years of technological and cultural advances. Nearly two thousand years later, a race called the Salarians discovered them giving them highly advanced technology, relocating them to another homeworld as well as saving their old homeworld. All this was given at a price, however. At this time the race of Salarians were engaged in a war with a race of space-faring insects called the Rachni. The Krogans were able to drive back the Rachni within two generations due to their increased growth rate and brutal strength[9].! The Salarians as well as the rest of the galaxy hailed the Krogans as saviors and even erected a monument on the Citadel (the capitol of the universe, also the headquarters of the Council) for the Krogans who died during the Rachni War. During all this, the Krogans continued to grow exponentially and eventually overcrowding every place they dwelt even spreading to other planets already inhabited by Citadel-allied races. The council eventually determined that enough was enough - the Krogans were spreading rapidly and using up all of
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their resources, so they were kicked out of the Citadel and all Citadel-allied worlds. They rebelled due to this, and with their rapid growth rate were able to match any number of casualties. The Council determined their fate to die at Krogan hands was inevitable, and turned to the Turian hierarchy for help. The result was the creation of the Genophage a bioweapon engineered by the Salarians to wipe out the Krogans by causing 99.9% infant mortality[9].! The Salarians and the Turians had very different philosophies regarding the Genophage. While the Salarians thought that the weapon could act simply as a deterrent to prevent future Krogan assaults, the Turians in their military mindset determined that it should be used as a weapon against the race of over aggressive militant reptilians. The result was almost instant. With the Krogans suffering in the front lines against advanced Citadel military technology and personnel as well as nearly all Krogan infants dying in still birth, they were forced to accept surrender. After the surrender was negotiated, the citadel determined a Genophage cure was not necessary and would keep the Krogans in check. Ever since that day, the Krogans have adopted a fatalistic attitude making them far dangerous than they ever were not acting with regard to others, as well as creating a terrorist attitude towards those who developed the Genophage. While many companies have discussed cures for the Genophage with the Krogans, there have been none to speak of[9]. ! Commander Shepard must act at certain points within the Mass Effect trilogy to either help the development of the Genophage cure or act against the Krogans, adopting the philosophy that the Turians had so very long ago. I believe there is a real question of morality at stake here. If Commander Shepard agrees that curing the Genophage is morally correct, then she agrees that genocide for any reason is wrong. She would then agree that genetic experimentation against a race is despicable, and that even with the consequences of the race being alive and well meaning
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near assured destruction of the rest of the universe (as the Krogans would inevitably grow exponentially and eat up all of the known resources of the universe faster than any other race could), it was still a better solution than essentially killing all Krogan infants. If she agrees with the Turians, and destroys any attempts at a Genophage cure then she agrees to be a part of government funded genocide[9]. Although certain key figures are working on modifications to the Genophage to maintain a trace amount of Krogan life [7], the idea is still the same: kill Krogans, before they kill us.! III. Literature Review and Parallel Moralities! This idea of sterilization is one not only set in science fiction or video games. There is a very real possibility of sterilization (even species-wide) using molecular biology. Sebastian Alvarado, PhD.[8] states that by using Zinc-Fingered nucleases, it is possible to hijack viruses and program them to target certain species-specific DNA sequences. Realizing this includes reproductive DNA sequences, it is not farfetched to imagine the thought of the Genophage being set in reality if such a similar situation were to befall us. Or has it already? It is well known among Wildlife Conversation Officials that deer population is too high, and causes an ecosystem imbalance. Although hunting seasons have been legalized for this purpose, many officials agree that it is not enough, and sterilization procedures have been put in place [2] to stop overpopulation and the negative effects it has. Sound familiar? The Krogan were in a very similar position, and while it may have not been the preferred method, it was deemed necessary to sterilize (near completely) for the sake of everyone involved. In the case of the overcrowding of deer, sterilizing was a viable option and seems to have little to no negative implications. The moral justification here is ambiguous, however. I believe the morality lies within how valuable
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we see the life of the creature or species we are sterilizing. Deer are overpopulated, so we sterilize them; no one bats an eye, neither for neutering and spaying of household pets. ! We have now explored the morally justifiable case of eugenic sterilization, where the sterilization of lesser species benefits them and/or greater species. However, in most cases where a measure is morally justifiable, there is a countermeasure of immoral action. There is a very glaring case for this in human history, which most people prefer to forget ever happened. The fact is that it was a very real time in history and we must explore it and know it intimately, lest we repeat the events that unfolded there. There, of course, being Nazi Germany; specifically, Block 10 of the Auschwitz concentration camp, Poland circa 1943.! Block 10 rings the bell that sends shivers down any Auschwitz survivors spine. Among the many atrocities carried out here, is there any way an experiment could be ruled as morally justifiable? Many of the experiments carried out here were racially motivated for the purpose of controlling Jewish population, as they saw the Jewish race as a threat to the Aryan people. Artificial insemination experiments, sterilization experiments, twin experiments, and Jewish skeleton collecting were all conducted at Block 10; with Dr. Carl Clauberg, Doctor Joseph Mengele, and Doctor August Hirt as the heads of these operations [3]. ! Artificial insemination was the test to see if sterilization testing worked, twin experiments were used to multiply Aryan births, and Jewish skeletons were collected to create a museum for the soon to be extinct Jewish race. I believe the moralities of how and moralities of why should be split here, to determine the possibility of justifying Nazi human experimentation as being morally correct. The hows of the experiments include but are not limited to inseminating female prisoners with sperm of different species for the purpose of creating monsters, sexual assault,
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and injecting a caustic substance (iodine and silver nitrate, also known to cause cervical cancer [9]) into fallopian tubes [10] (which a prisoner described as having that my stomach would burst with pain. I began to scream so [much] that I could be heard through the whole block [10]. I am afraid that I have to rule this as morally unjustifiable and horrendous. The methods used for racial-wide sterilization were not sophisticated by any means, and were beyond painful. An alternative of radiation was used in certain cases (namely male prisoners). This is less obvious, morally. Since the user underwent no pain, it is easy to say that it is morally correct. However, we must not forget that in both cases the user was not aware of the treatment they were going through and did not consent to it. I do believe the latter case could be morally correct in some cases of sterilization, however; so I will go ahead and state my opinion as the latter being morally justifiable in certain cases.! The whys, however? Let us examine our first example: it is agreed by the human race that the sterilization of lesser species (animals) is practical and morally justifiable for both the species and human-kind, in the case of rampant growth. The Jewish race, however is not known for rampant growth, and even so is not a threat to themselves or any other race (regardless of Nazi ideals). This then could be deemed as unnecessary sterilization, and therefore morally unjustifiable. What if there was a positive result? It is known that many of the trials carried out in Block 10 later were used in modern medicine [6], and one could deduce that the trials carried out there lead to further more humane practices of sterilizations. I still must retain my stance that is not morally justifiable, for the fact that the people undergoing the experiments were both unaware and unwilling. Although I do agree with the ideal that the needs of many outweigh the needs of few, putting anyone through such horrendous torture is both unnecessary and cruel. In
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addition to this, I do not believe the proper steps leading to human trials were taken and therefore immoral even in the case that it may have later helped humans with modern medicine.! IV. Genophage Conversation! We have looked at many different cases of eugenic sterilization and created a 'system of morality' for cases including nazi experimentation, spaying and neutering, and other forms of population control. Keeping all this in mind, can we use this system to better determine the morality of the Genophage: a race-wide sterilization virus? I believe we can. As lightspeedgaming discussed [5] in one of their articles, there are a number of prominent arguments that we can look at for the morality of the Genophage. The first of these arguments state that the Genophage was for their own good. As we can determine from the history of the Krogans, the species has a tendency to over-populate and then destroy itself with exponential resource depletion and repeating havoc-wreaking warfare. I note again that the Genophage does not completely sterilize the Krogans, but rather allows for 1 in 1000 Krogan infants to survive the birthing process. One could conclude that this is indeed correct, as we compare it to another case in which we have already deemed morally justifiable. We have already determined that sterilizing mass populations of deer is appropriate considering the ecological impact overcrowding of deer has on both themselves and everyone else, why would that also not apply on the larger warfaring reptilian species that is called Krogan?! The second argument is that the Genophage was a last resort for the Citadel-allied races chosen in the face of assured defeat. One could argue that there was clear and evident threat of extinction of the Krogans killing everyone involved with kicking them off of Citadel-allied worlds. I would agree that the Genophage is incredibly humane compared to what could have

happened. Krogans are very pain-resilient and tough to kill, so a more genetic and sophisticated weapon was necessary. Note here that this is very much so unlike what the Nazis used in Block 10 at Auschwitz. The Genophage did not cause extreme pain and cancer like the radiation and caustic substances injected into Jewish prisoner's fallopian tubes. While it is indeed correct that massive casualties occur in the wombs of Krogan females, the lack of a Genophage could spell mutually assured destruction for both sides. For instance, if the Genophage was not implemented and Krogans won the war, Citadel-allied races would have been killed and enslaved. The Krogan race would have grown and grown and the history that occurred on Tuchanka would have repeated itself in time.! So, from two different views we have determined that in both cases that the Genophage is morally justifiable. In the case of the Krogan viewpoint, it is horrible but necessary. In the case of those the Krogan threaten, it is necessary for survival. We previously discussed that sterilization without knowledge or consent of the patient is morally ambiguous depending on the view of the party tasked with sterilizing. In the case of the Nazis, I said that radiation sterilization was morally justifiable based only on the fact that the Third Reich truly believed that the Jewish race was a threat to their regime. This does not excuse the horrible acts carried out on in concentration camps all over Europe, but it certainly could be justified as a more humane way to deal with a threat to your people, because lets face it morality turns gray when you think your people (whether that be your country, your family, or your friends) are endangered. In reality, the Jewish race posed no threat to anyone, including the Nazis, and therefore is irrational and immoral. This differs greatly from the case of the Krogans where a evident looming threat was upon the horizon and called for drastic action.! V. Conclusion!
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I will not state what simply must be morally correct or incorrect. Morality is very much so relative, and depends on the point of view you take. I believe that many Nazis were raised with a socially-accepted morality compass, and were distorted from reality with charismatic propaganda. Like I just stated: to Nazis, sterilization by radiation is morally justifiable in their reality; but to everyone else in their point of reality, it is irrational and unnecessary. So what then of the Krogans? Is the fate that has befallen them morally justifiable? I believe so, based on all the conclusions I have made thus far. The Genophage was necessary in every viewpoint I have looked at this issue from, and it all agrees with my personal opinion. This is not something that is or must be, it is simply an opinion. A point of view based on my point of view as reinforced by others' point of views. However, what is morality if not an opinion, or a collection of sociallyaccepted opinion? Opinions which could very easily change based on the quality of life or the threat looming nearby.! VI. Annotated References! Published Papers [1] Bachrach, Susan. Deadly Medicine. manuscript., University of California: 2007. JSTOR. Available http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/tph.2007.29.3.19.!

Bachrach's article discussed all types of unethical experiments carried out by the Third Reich circa 1943. One of these is most prominent to my research, genetic sterilization trials. This article distinguishes itself by discussing the change in reports of studies to be positive to help create eugenic sterilization law in Germany.!

[2] Merrill, John, Evan Cooch, and Paul Curtis. "Managing an Overabundant Deer Population by Sterilization: Effects of Immigration, Stochasticity and the Capture Process." . Journal of Wildlife Management: 2006. Available http://www.jstor.org.librarylink.uncc.edu/stable/3803570.

While this article may not be relevant in terms of Human experimentation, it does serve a purpose for offering a legal and moral view of sterilization. This article focuses on the Sterilization of deer for purposes of oversaturation. The ideas explored in this article are very similar to methods explored by the Salarians for the Genophage.

Articles [3] Cohen, Baruch. "The Ethics Of Using Medical Data From Nazi Experiments.". Jewish Law: 2010. Available http://www.jlaw.com/Articles/NaziMedEx.html.

Cohen discusses the depth of the crimes against humanity carried out in Block 10 in Auschwitz by Dr. Clauberg. Although sterilization trials were Himmler's real interest, there were several other trials that were carried out here. These include but are not limited to Artificial Insemination, Twin Experimentation, and a Jewish Skeleton Collection. These all link back to sterilization and specifically the Genophage in that they are all racially motivated eugenic trials.

[4] Dufrene, Dennis. "The Terrible Nazi Medical Experiments of WWII." Top Secret Writers: 2010. Available http://www.topsecretwriters.com/2010/10/the-terrible-nazi-medicalexperiments-of-wwii/.

Dufrene explores the world of nazi experimentation in this article in a brief, digestible format. This article gives a good synopsis of the eugenic sterilization carried out in Auschwitz, and also discusses other unethical trials that can be mentioned briefly. In addition to this, this article was a good jumping off point to further explore Eugenic Sterilization in Germany.

[5] Technomancer. "The Mass Effect philosophical corner: Was the Genophage okay?." Light Speed Gaming: 2012. Available http://www.lightspeed-gaming.com/2012/03/masseffect- philosophical-corner-was.html.

This article basically restates what I have said in my paper, but it is good to get a second perspective. It helps me to help deliver three main arguments to help discuss the genophage in full. 'Technomancer' also gives a good point to explore the 'other' side of morality for eugenic sterilization.

[6] Wells, S.D. "History of Medicine: The former Chairman of Bayer, maker of children's aspirin, was found guilty of Nazi war crimes and sentenced to prison" Natural News. Available http://www.naturalnews.com/036484_Bayer_Nazi_war_crimes.html

This article describes the good that came from Nazi Experimentations. While humanity more or less agrees that Nazi Human Experimentation was morally wrong, there is a silver lining to the issue. Wells discusses briefly the depth into the medicine we use today, and how it can be traced back to Nazi Experimentation.

Videos [7] jjock33. "Mass Effect 2 - Mordin and the Genophage" Youtube, Inc.: 2010. Available http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esrJhQVrlqA.

This video helps give a look into the actual footage of a genophage cure under development. With this knowledge, the reader will have a better sense of the moral implications of a race-wide sterilization plague. Knowing this, readers will have a better reference point to begin the thought of morality of eugenic sterilization, particularly in Nazi Germany.

[8] Kayser, Daniel and Alvarado, Sebastian. "Science of Games" Gametrailers: 2013. Available http://www.gametrailers.com/videos/hq3a3c/science-of-games-genophage.

This video discusses with the possibility of the Genophage with Sebastian Alvrado, PhD. who determines that it is very much so a real thing that could be developed. The molecular biologist talked about Zinc-Fingered nucleases and how they can 'program' viruses to target certain DNA sequences. With this in mind, it is not too far-fetched that a virus could render a species sterile.

Encyclopedias [9] Mass Effect Codex. Bioware: 2007. Available http://social.bioware.com/n7hq/m/codex/

This source gives me all the knowledge I need to discuss the genophage adequately. With this information, I am able to give background information and discuss the genophage intelligently. I use this information to lead into morality comparisons and likenesses to eugenic sterilization.

[10] Wallace, Jonathan, ed. Auschwitz Alphabet. Brooklyn, NY: s.v. "Block 10." Available http://www.spectacle.org/695/block10.html

This encyclopaedia entry specifically describes Block 10, which I believe is important because it gives insight into living conditions of human experimentees. Whether or not one believes human experimentation is morally justifiable, there is no disputing the conditions that Jewish prisoners went through here were horrible and unnecessarry. From here on, we should use this as an example of what not to do, regardless whether we can justify Human Experimentation or not.
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