Mankind's Quest to Enhance Our Species

Position Paper

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Mankind’s Quest to Enhance Our Species

It has been stated that if technology is within man’s grasp, he will achieve it. The problem is mankind can sometimes get so wrapped up in whether or not something can be done, he does not stop to think should it be done. Our world is currently in the midst of a technological renaissance; however, will we know when to stop? When man discovered gunpowder, he created firearms. When man discovered atomic fission, he created the atom bomb. Now man has unearthed the power of genetics and nanotechnology1 in the scientific interest of augmenting nature.

Researchers are already fashioning prototypes of subdermal DNA chips to analyze and catalogue the human genetic code. Nanorobots2, only one two-hundredth the width of a human hair, have also started to emerge. In less than a decade the “Human Genome Project”3, an event that will be heralded as one of mankind’s greatest achievements, will be completed. Cloning, once a favorite theme of science fiction writers, is now a reality. Now, medical dogma is challenged with the revelation that even brain and spinal cell can be repaired or regenerated. Rampant technological advances will not lead us toward a utopian society similar to Gene Roddenberry’s “Star Trek”4,but into a nightmare civilization resembling Stephen R. Donaldson’s “Mythological Beast”5.

Humans are part of an exclusive club. We are one of the few animals in nature that do not have sex solely for the function of reproduction6. Sex will never go away, and neither will procreation. However, the two acts may end up divorced from one another. In 1978 the first test tube baby, Louise Brown, was born. Since then, more than one hundred thousand test tube babies have been born in the United States. In most cases they were born from parents who were biologically unable to have a child. We presently possess the technology for parents to specify if they want a boy or girl.

Currently, technology is being developed to use gene therapy to strengthen a child’s immune system and prevent diseases and disorders. Someday hemophilia, asthma, and heart disease may be detected and treated before an infant is even born. In the future, people may look into in-vitro7 techniques to give their children the desirable qualities that they want for their child. (Ridley) Parents would no longer say, “I think he has your nose” or “I think she has my eyes” because they were given the choice during pregnancy on what traits they wanted to pass along to their children. Graeme Mitchison, a molecular biologist, said, “We can all be beautiful-no baldness, no wimps with glasses, no knobby knees.” (Ridley) The molecular biologist Lee M. Silver believes parents will give the argument that by altering an infant’s genes they are only giving their child the best chances for survival. (Silver) Unfortunately, the best way to ensure that these procedures are successful is to have the embryo’s conception and three-trimester evolution take place inside of a lab. While inside a womb, a child develops a special bond with its mother. What would the developing child bond to in a laboratory?

Three years ago, researchers in Western Europe created the first successful clone of a mammal; a lamb named Dolly. This brought an outcry from people around the world. Some people hailed the biologist as a miracle worker advancing medical science; others condemn the researchers as heretics who were playing God. The question quickly arose by the latter as to how long it would be before this procedure would be attempted on humans. Amidst all the media hype, it was discovered that the clone was not perfect. Dolly suffered from the genetic defect of prematurely aged cells8. (Lemonick)

In spite of this problem, researchers at an American university began work on cloning a human. They believed that if their work was kept quiet until conception, the embryo would be allowed to mature. Eventually, the researchers prevailed; and announced their accomplishment to the world. The response received was far from exuberant. Congress ordered the immediate termination of the embryo. Congress gave the order because the cloning of humans is unethical and they wanted to placate the people who are not yet ready to embrace the concept. Currently, the majority of people on Earth are against the idea of human cloning. Moreover, since cloning is a new technology, the United States constitution has no laws regulating it. (Lemonick) Someone could take a sample of a persons’ DNA, create a clone of them, present the clone to the person, and there would be no legal recourse for the individual to take.

Imagine a robot small enough to