VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI says discriminating against people based on genetic factors like their risks for developing cancer is an attack against all of humanity.
Benedict made the comments today to participants of a Vatican conference on the "New Frontiers of Genetics and the Risk of Eugenics."
Eugenics is the effort to improve the quality of the human race by controlling heredity.
Benedict praised the scientific progress that has enabled researchers to diagnose genetic illnesses and develop therapies to treat them.
But he warned that alongside this progress were "worrisome displays" of eugenics-based discrimination that favoured "perfection and physical beauty" -- a reference to pre-implantation genetic screening for embryos.
