OPINION
Genetic engineering: Stop the race for perfection
Maries Meland
Many years from now.
the world will be a lus
ter place to live. People
will be happier, healthier, more
intelligent and better-looking.
They will lend more meaning
ful. more active, longer-lasting
lives.
Aggressive traits will have been
removed from the human
species, resulting in lower crime
rates and the abandonment of
wars as a means of solving a con
flict.
People will be programmed to
be faithful and monogamous.
There will be fewer divorces,
fewer sex crimes and fewer
instances of sexual harassment.
Most diseases, such as cancer.
AIDS and multiple sclerosis, will
have l>eun cured, and no children
will be born with brain damage
or physical disabilities
Everyone will be tolerant and
open-minded. Racism, sexism
and bigotry, some of the most
destructive human characteris
tics in the past, will be unheard
of in this brand New World.
Sounds too good to be true?
Admittedly, this scenario does
not seem plausible today But
with the rapid development in
human genetics and genetic tech
nology. the things that seemed an
ini{>ossibilitv yesterday area pos
sibility today and will bee ome
a reality tomorrow
Al Gore, chairman of the Con
gressional Committee on Science
and Tec h no logy in 198S. wrote
that "biotei hnology has more
potential to reshape the world
than any other technology except
nuclear power "
"Biology is destinySigmund
Freud once sriid. In the future, we
will change our biology to take
control of our destiny
Today, we're using genetics to
cure human diseases Tomorrow,
wo might use it to cure the
human condition.
With today's level of lei hnot
ogv it's possible to alter the genet
ic material in a single i ell or a
group of cells This tei hnologv.
called gene therapy, has changed
the face of modern medicine and
opened up a world of previous
ly inconceivable advances Just
recently. scientists hove begun to
use gene therapy to treat genet
ic diseases.
(Changing the genes in the body
cells is called somatic, gene ther
apy. This technology is, in itself,
generally accepted today. In
many ways, it's just an extension
of modern medicine. Many of
today's worst killers, such as
AIDS and c nnu'r. tnnv lie cured
by gene therapy in the future.
Although most people think
this tec hnologv is intrinsii ally
m i eptable. many think that some
of its applications are not. For
instance, it may not he easy to
distinguish between genetic treat
ment and genetic enham ement
To understand this distinction,
we must have a clear and prec is*?
definition of what a disease is.
Hut who can say exac tly what
a disease is? Attorney Jeremy
Kifkiti, one of the most vocal crit
ic s of genetic engineering, sav s.
"Whore do we draw the line7
We ll want to eliminate lay
Sac hs disease, an early childhood
killer Heart disease i an kill you
at 20. emphysema at HO and
Alzheimer’s at 70 How about
ni ne7 At what point do we move
front try ing to cure horrible genet
ic diseases to try ing to enhance a
genetic trait7"
Kifkm believes the ultimate
goal of si ientific pursuit is per
fection and immortality He
thinks there is n fine line that sep
arates modern genetic: engineer
ing from the eugenic movement
of the past Kifkin says the pos
sible consequences of human
gene therapy i onstilutu "the most
impressive social problem the
human family has ever had to
deal with, excepting the dropping
of a nuc lear bomb.”
If the prospective of somatic:
gene therapy doesn't scare you.
germ-line gene therapy will.
While somnlk gone therapy
( hnnges th<; genetic compound
of (lit! body rolls, germ-line gone
ihorapv changes iho sev t oils In
other words, germ-line gene ther
apv moans altering Iho human
hereditary material.
That moans, to pul H simply,
that germ-line gone therapy will
allow st it'niists to cure tlisoases
before their patients are born
even before they're conceived liy
using germ-lino gene Ihorapv. wo
can moke sure that all babies are
Iwrn strong and healths
Hut if wo can’t define "disease"
properly, strong and healthy" is
an ambiguous term Perhaps we
can agree that loukomia. cam or,
AIDS, physical disabilities and
brain damage are undesirable dis
eases that should be eradicated
before birth Hut where do wo
draw the line? How about inferi
or intelligence, an unattractive
appearance, an unusually short
or tall stature, a laxly with a high
fat content?
It the technology becomes
available, and it probably will,
these are questions that we will
have to deal with, hi the future,
it may he possible fur US to cre
ate a Brand New World stit h as
the one outlined above The quo-,
lion is Do we really want it' Do
we really want to lie perfect?
bthii s and science don't
always go hand in hand. Knowl
edge is, I suppose, intrinsii ally
neither good nor had. hut the
application of knowledge can txi
disastrous, lust think of nuclear
tis hnology It's a great idea, hut
an abuse of this knowledge could
havo monstrous consequences
In tlm case of nuclear tw hnol*
ogv. the development occurred
so fast that nobody except tho s< i
ontists know what was happen
ing It was wnrtiiuo. and puoplo
didn't have limit to think of tho
otiiu al consequences of tho
dovolopmont of a now technnl
ogv When the atom hoinhs wore
dropped over Hiroshima and
Nagasaki in August I'Hi, many
people didn't oven know what an
atom homb was. and nobody —
not oven its creators were
aware of the full extent of its
destructive power.
In the < axe of genetics, we have
a chance to outline the ethical
guidelines for this technology as
it is lieing developed, ('.one tech
nology is still in an early stage of
its development, and although
some of its technic al ospei Is are
incomprehensible lor lay people,
it's still possible to have a basic
understanding of the field
It 's important that we don't let
genetics become the sole prop
erty of sc ientists Genetics is
going to i liange our lives; in fai t,
it may change tIn* meaning of
being human And everyone
should lie able to take part in the
dec isions that yvill shape human
history in the years to come
Marins Mrlutul is a columnist
for the Emerald
16*102
eadline
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