Combing through my files, I came across a piece I'd written
in 2011 about genetic alteration. But my piece referred to experiments
done much earlier, in 2001.
Given what happened in 2001, one can only imagine how far
scientists have now gone in tinkering with DNA---openly, and in secret.
From The Telegraph, Sep.27, 2001, "Boy's DNA implanted in rabbit eggs," written by Roger Highfield:
"Scientists in China have inserted a boy's DNA into empty
rabbit eggs and grown hybrid embryos, it is reported today. A team at
the Sun Yat-Sen University of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, are trying to
overcome a practical limitation...In some of
the 100 or so successful transfers to a rabbit egg stripped of
chromosomes, an embryo developed to the morula stage, [which is] the
compact ball of cells that forms after about three days of development.
For stem cells to be isolated, the embryos must be coaxed
into developing further."
Also in 2001, there was another, far more ambitious experiment:
BBC Online (May 4, 2001): "Scientists have confirmed that the first genetically altered humans have been born and are healthy."
"Up to 30 such children have been born, 15 of them as a result of one experimental programme at a US laboratory [the Institute for Reproductive Medicine and Science of St Barnabas in New Jersey]..."
"Genetic fingerprint tests on two one-year-old children
confirm that they contain a small quantity of additional genes not
inherited from either parent."
"The additional genes were taken from a healthy donor and used to overcome their mother's infertility problems."
"...The additional genes that the children carry have altered
their 'germline', or their collection of genes that they will pass on
to their offspring...[Note: This means the new abnormal configuration of
genes will spread out into the general population,
over time, with unknown effects.]
"Writing in the journal Human Reproduction, the researchers
say that this 'is the first case of human germline genetic modification
resulting in normal healthy children.'"
The superhighway into a genetically designed future isn't
just a science-fiction fantasy. Stones on that highway have already been
laid down.
This is how the op proceeds: Out front, scientists say they
are curing infertility and other medical problems by genetic
alteration---and many scientists believe this is the only purpose of the
work. But behind that, something else is happening:
Wholesale gene alteration to invent different and new types of humans.
This is the technocrats' Holy Grail. A society in which
different classes of humans are assigned to different levels of work and
living.
Lee Silver, an eminent molecular biologist at Princeton, has written a book,
Remaking Eden (1998), about the future of gene science in society. This is how he views the future just over the horizon:
"The GenRich---who account for ten percent of the American
population---[will] all carry synthetic genes. All aspects of the
economy, the media, the entertainment industry, and the knowledge
industry are controlled by members of the GenRich class..."
"Naturals [who aren't genetically altered] work as low-paid
service providers or as laborers. [Eventually] the GenRich class and the
Natural class will become entirely separate species with no ability to
crossbreed, and with as much romantic interest
in each other as a current human would have for a chimpanzee."
"Many think that it is inherently unfair for some people to
have access to technologies that can provide advantages while others,
less well-off, are forced to depend on chance alone, [but] American
society adheres to the principle that personal liberty
and personal fortune are the primary determinants of what individuals
are allowed and able to do."
"Indeed, in a society that values individual freedom above
all else, it is hard to find any legitimate basis for restricting the
use of repro-genetics. I will argue [that] the use of reprogenetic
technologies is inevitable. [W]hether we like it or
not, the global marketplace will reign supreme."
As shocking as Lee Silver's assessment is, it's mild when put
up against the pronouncement of Gregory Stock, former director of the
program in Medicine, Technology, and Society at the UCLA School of
Medicine:
"Even if half the world's species were lost [during genetic
experiments], enormous diversity would still remain. When those in the
distant future look back on this period of history, they will likely see
it not as the era when the natural environment
was impoverished, but as the age when a plethora of new forms---some
biological, some technological, some a combination of the two---burst
onto the scene. We best serve ourselves, as well as future generations,
by focusing on the short-term consequences of
our actions rather than our vague notions about the needs of the
distant future."
That's quite an "innovative" definition of scientific responsibility.
And note that Gregory Stock is also talking about new "life
forms" that are combinations of biological and technological
elements---bio-machines.
Give the current state of genetic science, and the inflated
claims of competence, you can be sure that many thousands of
hit-and-miss experiments are being carried out. It's trial and error.
One can only imagine some of the grotesque "errors."
Behind all this is the assumption that human beings are
deficient; they need alteration; as composed, they are woefully
insufficient to take their place in the new world order.
Which is why I'm posting this piece---because we are seeing
yet another vector in the attack on The Individual. As I've maintained
for the past 35 years, there is nothing wrong with the individual,
except his reluctance to recognize his own power
and his own capacity to envision his best future and pursue it with
commitment.
In full bloom, the individual is not only adequate, he is dynamic and majestic.
Understanding this is the "adjustment" we need to make.
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