Human Nature on Collision Course with Genetic Engineering
Human genetic engineering could be the next major battleground for the global conservation movement, according to a series of reports in the latest issue of World Watch magazine, published by the Worldwatch Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based research organization. While previous struggles have involved protecting ecosystems and human societies from the unpredicted consequences of new technologies, this fight over high-risk applications of human genetic engineering is a struggle over who will decide what it means to be human.
Many countries have already banned reproductive cloning, and the U.N. is working on a global treaty to ban it, but even more powerful and much more dangerous are the related technologies to modify the genes we pass on to our children, says Ed Ayres, Editor of World Watch magazine. The contributors to this special issue call on the U.N. and national governments to ban the technology known as inheritable genetic modification.
Many uses of human genetic technology could be beneficial to society, but as political scientist Francis Fukuyama writes in the magazine, our understanding of the relationship between our genes and whatever improvements we might seek for our children (and their descendants) is dangerously deficient. Fukuyama warns that the victim of a failed experiment will not be an ecosystem, but a human child whose parents, seeking to give her greater intelligence, will saddle her with a greater propensity for cancer, or prolonged debility in old age, or some other completely unanticipated side effect that may emerge only after the experimenters have passed from the scene.
Human genetic engineering has ramifications that reach far beyond the life of a single child. Several contributors highlight the disastrous results of the last serious effort to engineer genetic perfection. In the early part of the 20th century, scientists and politicians in the United States relied on the alleged science of eugenics to justify the forced sterilization of tens of thousands of people who were judged to be feebleminded, mentally defective, or epileptics. Hitler passed his own sterilization law soon after taking office in 1933, heading down the path toward the Holocaust. The U.S. biotechnology industry-which dominates the global industry-has become an increasingly powerful economic and political force, with revenues growing fivefold between 1989 ($5 billion) and 2000 ($25 billion). Aided by the equally rapid revolution in computing, laboratories that once took two months to sequence 150 nucleotides can now process over 30 million in a day, and at a small fraction of the earlier cost. The number of patents pending for human DNA sequences has gone from 4,000 in 1991, to 500,000 in 1998, to several million today.
We are publishing this special issue because we dont want to lose the opportunity to decide openly and democratically how this rapidly developing technology is used, says Ayres. This isnt a fight about saving whales, or the last rain forests, or even the health of people living today. The question is whether we can save ourselves from ourselves, to know and respect what we do not know, and to put the breaks on potentially dangerous forms of human genetic engineering.
Excerpts from the authors of the Beyond Cloning issue of World Watch
About World Watch magazine: This bimonthly magazine is published by the Worldwatch Institute, an independent research organization, based in Washington, DC. Launched in 1988, the magazine has won the Alternative Press Award for investigative journalism, the Project Censored Award, and a number of Utne Reader awards. Recent editions have featured articles on the imminent disappearance of more than half of the worlds languages, airport sprawl, and the rapid growth of organic farming. Please visit: http://www.worldwatch.org/mag/.
The Worldwatch Institute is an independent research organization that works for an environmentally sustainable and socially just society, in which the needs of all people are met without threatening the health of the natural environment or the well-being of future generations. By providing compelling, accessible, and fact-based analysis of critical global issues, Worldwatch informs people around the world about the complex interactions between people, nature, and economies. Worldwatch focuses on the underlying causes of and practical solutions to the worlds problems, in order to inspire people to demand new policies, investment patterns, and lifestyle choices. For more information, visit: http://www.worldwatch.org.
Disclaimer: Please note that the statement by eight leaders of environmental NGOs, which appears on page 25 of the magazine, represents the views of the individuals quoted, not necessarily of the organizations they lead.
Follow this link:
Human Nature on Collision Course with Genetic Engineering ...
- Designer Babies: The Ethics of Human Genetic Engineering - May 27th, 2022 [May 27th, 2022]
- Human genetic enhancement - Wikipedia - October 19th, 2021 [October 19th, 2021]
- 16 Advantages and Disadvantages of Human Genetic Engineering - June 23rd, 2021 [June 23rd, 2021]
- Engineering Illusions Part I: Religion and Technology III - Medium - April 9th, 2021 [April 9th, 2021]
- Genetic Engineering in Humans - Curing Diseases and ... - March 9th, 2020 [March 9th, 2020]
- Human Genetic Engineering - AllAboutPopularIssues.org - March 9th, 2020 [March 9th, 2020]
- Human Genetic Engineering Probe Ministries - March 9th, 2020 [March 9th, 2020]
- Human Genetic Engineering Facts - August 14th, 2017 [August 14th, 2017]
- The ethics of creating GMO humans | The Spokesman-Review - The Spokesman-Review - August 6th, 2017 [August 6th, 2017]
- Human Genetic Engineering Cons - July 26th, 2017 [July 26th, 2017]
- China unveils technology to create SUPER-HUMANS via hyper-muscular test-tube dogs - Express.co.uk - July 19th, 2017 [July 19th, 2017]
- The Scopes Monkey Trial and global warming: Same playbook, different football - Baptist News Global - July 14th, 2017 [July 14th, 2017]
- Science and Scientists on the Vineyard: Genes at play with CRISPR - Martha's Vineyard Times - June 17th, 2017 [June 17th, 2017]
- Two Representatives Offer A Look At How Congress Is Doing - WNIJ and WNIU - June 16th, 2017 [June 16th, 2017]
- 'Knights of Sidonia' is the Pinnacle of Gritty Mecha Anime - Inverse - June 12th, 2017 [June 12th, 2017]
- Technosplit: The bifurcation of humanity - Salon - June 5th, 2017 [June 5th, 2017]
- Breakthrough Regenerative Therapeutics Company Establishes Scientific Advisory Board - PR Newswire (press release) - May 4th, 2017 [May 4th, 2017]
- Ethical Implications of Human Genetic Engineering | SAGE - April 19th, 2017 [April 19th, 2017]
- Human Genetic Engineering on the Doorstep - hgalert.org - April 15th, 2017 [April 15th, 2017]
- The Threat of Human Genetic Engineering - hgalert.org - April 12th, 2017 [April 12th, 2017]
- Gene Editing Could Make You Smarter - Futurism - Futurism - March 1st, 2017 [March 1st, 2017]
- Immoral Uses of Biotechnology Even With Good Intentions Are Evil - National Catholic Register - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Human-pig hybrids might be unsettling. But they could save lives. - Washington Post - February 6th, 2017 [February 6th, 2017]
- 5 Key Pros and Cons of Human Genetic Engineering | NLCATP.org - November 21st, 2016 [November 21st, 2016]
- Gene therapy - Wikipedia - October 25th, 2016 [October 25th, 2016]
- Human Genetic Engineering: A Guide for Activists, Skeptics ... - September 20th, 2016 [September 20th, 2016]
- Human Genetic Engineering - The Future of Human Evolution - March 25th, 2016 [March 25th, 2016]
- Human Genetic Engineering : History - December 22nd, 2015 [December 22nd, 2015]
- 00.03.07: Human Cloning, Genetic Engineering and Privacy - October 16th, 2015 [October 16th, 2015]
- Online Debate: Human genetic engineering is a good thing ... - October 16th, 2015 [October 16th, 2015]
- Bioethics Of Human Genetic Engineering - Documentary Video ... - September 30th, 2015 [September 30th, 2015]
- Pros and Cons of Genetic Engineering in Humans - Part 1 - August 29th, 2015 [August 29th, 2015]
- Genetic Engineering - humans, body, used, process, plants ... - August 27th, 2015 [August 27th, 2015]
- Genetic Engineering In Humans - August 27th, 2015 [August 27th, 2015]
- Human Genetic Engineering Cons: Why This Branch of Science ... - August 19th, 2015 [August 19th, 2015]
- Human Genetics Alert - Human Genetic Engineering resources - August 19th, 2015 [August 19th, 2015]
- Genetic engineering - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - August 4th, 2015 [August 4th, 2015]
- Benefits of Human Genetic Engineering - Popular Issues - August 4th, 2015 [August 4th, 2015]
- Human Genetics - July 31st, 2015 [July 31st, 2015]
- Human Genetic Engineering Pros And Cons - July 31st, 2015 [July 31st, 2015]
- Gene therapy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - July 28th, 2015 [July 28th, 2015]
- Human Genetic Engineering - Popular Issues - July 28th, 2015 [July 28th, 2015]
- Human Genetics Alert - The Threat of Human Genetic Engineering - July 28th, 2015 [July 28th, 2015]
- Human Genetic Engineering - Popular Issues ... - February 16th, 2015 [February 16th, 2015]
- Human Genetic Engineering - Buzzle - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- Pros and Cons of Genetic Engineering in Humans - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- Human Genetic Engineering History - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- Benefits of Human Genetic Engineering - Popular Issues ... - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]