Genetically Modified Humans Act 2044

When the Hephaestus Scandal broke there was a lot of fear-mongering by certain politicians and the media. This lead to a rushed through Bill in Parliament that became the Genetically Modified Humans Act 2044. The Royal Assent of this act was rapidly followed by the 2044 General Election which resulted in a coalition government formed of fringe parties that had done well from the protest votes.

This lead to extreme restrictions on those that had been identified as having been created (or modified in utero) by Hephaestus and other companies in the late twenties and through the thirties. Most of these children (the oldest were only 22 when the Act was passed) were treatments for genetic diseases that would otherwise have proved fatal. Most of those diseases were specified in the regulations. However there was no way to easily distinguish between those and the ones that were the results of the genetic research without mass testing. Hephaestus had implanted embryos with experimental modifications into a number of women against the terms of their research approvals, and some of those modifications were of dubious intent. Over a fifteen year period Hephaestus were known to have illegally implanted a minimum of 700 embryos into women who thought that they were getting fertility treatment with their own eggs. Affiliated clinics treated almost 10,000 women in the same time period.

The Act banned the following

• genetically modifying human embryos
• modifications to humans that affected the germ cells
• research into the human genome (except for cancerous cells)
• post-birth genetic treatment (except cancer treatment or specified illnesses)

The Act distinguishes between those that were modified post-birth and those created by genetic scientists. The restrictions on these groups differ.

Where the reason for this is treatment of one of the specified illnesses listed in regulations and the treatment can be shown not to have affected germ cells (or the subject is sterile) then there are no restrictions, although medical records are endorsed appropriately.

Those with modifications not specified in regulations or where there is an effect on the germ cells are classed as GM and they have broadly similar restrictions applied to them as those created. Typically these people are treated socially as victims of science and there is a level of sympathy for them provided they keep to the restrictions.

• endorsement of citizen card as GM(P)
• not entitled to fertility treatment
• required to notify authorities of change of address
• required to report pregnancies as soon as known to authorities
• cannot donate blood, sperm, eggs or organs
• cannot hold public office or designated professions (currently medical, teaching and food preparation)
• subject to preventative detention if conditions persistently broken

This was the real cause of the fear. Hephaestus had been conducting research involving a combination of combat veterans and prisoners and the worry was that they had combined some of the worst parts of humanity in their experiments (which was, of course, a gross misrepresentation of the facts). However the reality didn't stop the media storm which was picked up by the fringe politicians (and some of the savvier mainstream ones who hoped to stay in power).

These people have the following restrictions:

• endorsement of citizen card as GM
• not entitled to fertility treatment
• required to notify authorities of change of address
• required to report pregnancies as soon as known to authorities
• cannot donate blood, sperm, eggs or organs
• cannot hold public office or designated professions (currently police, military, medical, teaching and food preparation)
• cannot access public funds for higher education
• rehabilitation of offences provisions do not apply
• preventive detention used for persistent offenders