Genetic Manipulation & You

[C-Nub]

We are on the cusp of something truly remarkable and unique in human history. Our medical technology is knocking on the tomorrow’s door, and soon, we will have an option, or series of options, that no one living or dead has ever had access to in all of human history.

The cause and effect nature of evolution, the slow-paced response to environmental factors that has driven the diversity engine of life on earth is about to be rendered obsolete, replaced with our ability, or knowledge, our science, our understanding of genetics.

We are on the verge, in a word, of controlling and changing our very nature as a species. We will have the option of extending our lifespan, increasing our physical abilities and sensory range, and having today’s geniuses as tomorrow’s average.

Therein lies the questionable morality of this. Do we, as a species, have the right to change our genetic nature? Is the genome God’s domain, or have we the right of access?

Before anyone answers, here’s some things to consider:

Cancer, Autism, Down Syndrome, Cystic Fibrosis, Alzheimers, Anemia, Brittle Bone Disease, Cerebral Sclerosis, Heart Disease, Dementia, Huntington’s Disease, Kidney and Liver Diseases, Muscular Dystrophy, and literally hundreds of other, potentially fatal disorders are at least in part a result of a genetic pre-disposition in their victims. Many owe their existence wholly to genetic mutation, the sort that could be easily corrected with gene tampering or therapy.

Fetal alcohol syndrome, deafness, blindness, dwarfism, infertility, tourettes, cleft lips and pallets, Siamese twins, autism, thyroid diseases, cretinism and many forms of retardation owe their existence to genetic defects and error (F.A.S. is self inflicted, but still, not the kid’s fault...)

Addiction has been linked to a genetic predisposition towards just that. So has obesity, dyslexia and homosexuality, though the latter is at least arguably not a problem or something we’d want / need to correct, a case could be made for doing so.

Baldness, dental alignment, lazy-eyes, and finger toes (I don’t like finger-toes, ok) are all a result of our genetic code.

Here, for further consideration, are some statistics:

- Cancer kills over seventeen million people worldwide every year.

- One in eight hundred children is born with downs syndrome, with over three hundred thousand cases in the United States at present.

- Heart disease kills someone thirty for seconds in the United States and will put more than six million people in the hospital this year, and over three hundred thousand people will die before receiving treatment.

- Five million people in the United States have been diagnosed with alzheimers, with nearly four hundred thousand more new cases every year.

The economic and social impact of these problems CANNOT be overstated. The amount of tax and insurance dollars spent on treatment, the amount of human suffering that results, both that of the victims and that of their loved ones, the cost in human lives, these are the greatest killers of the modern world. Incidental deaths such as car accidents, murders, and the other assorted accidents that can claim human lives do not even appear on the same statistical map as the death’s that can be attributed to genetic chance.

But there’s more. Gene tampering can do more than prevent disease and improve the human averages. It could introduce something called ‘organ redundancy’ to our nervous systems, giving us the ability to survive far greater injury and happenstance. A kidney could be programmed to produce insulin if necessary, lungs could be altered to assist in pumping blood, and bone marrow could be made to assist the liver or spleen or any other organ we wanted.

Our digestive efficiency could be increased, as well as the range of items that could constitute food.

Our skin could be modified to achieve partial photosynthesis.

We could be programmed with a pre-immunity to much of what is toxic to us presently, as well as immunized against a great many of none-genetic diseases. In theory, we could be made immune to all viral, bacterial and fungal diseases with careful genetic programming.

Bacterial symbiosis could be an option, with specially designed cultures that feed on ‘bad’ cholesterol, or some that feed on the particles responsible for body and / or fecal odour, although that last bit may be trivial.


The point is, Genetic Manipulation has the potential to drastically improve the standards of human life. Is it something that we, as a species, should pursue and invest in, or is it something that, due to the dangers, we should avoid and outlaw? What are the dangers? Is it amoral? Would we no longer be human, and risk our immortal souls by undergoing significant genetic change? What does the bible say?

[byofrcs]

We are on the cusp of something truly remarkable and unique in human history. Our medical technology is knocking on the tomorrow’s door, and soon, we will have an option, or series of options, that no one living or dead has ever had access to in all of human history.

The cause and effect nature of evolution, the slow-paced response to environmental factors that has driven the diversity engine of life on earth is about to be rendered obsolete, replaced with our ability, or knowledge, our science, our understanding of genetics.

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The point is, Genetic Manipulation has the potential to drastically improve the standards of human life. Is it something that we, as a species, should pursue and invest in, or is it something that, due to the dangers, we should avoid and outlaw? What are the dangers? Is it amoral? Would we no longer be human, and risk our immortal souls by undergoing significant genetic change? What does the bible say?

The answer is easy. The environment and all species already genetically modify themselves in some way.

The environment selects certain genetic structures by killing off certain genetic combinations and animals do it through selecting the best mate.

So once we get over the hurdle that we already implicitly genetically modify ourselves. We need to ask is using technology an acceptable mechanism ?

The answer to that is also very easy. Since we put on the first scrap of clothing we have relied on technology. There are very few places in the world in which a human can live with no technology.

The technology doesn't mean modern high technology but something as simple as a tools such as a pointed stick to dig through hard ground, or water containers from hollowed shells, or furs to protect us from the cold.

It is a more significant a leap to go from no tool use to using a stick than it is to go from using a slide-rule to using a calculator. The first example was a paradigm leap of astounding implications, whereas the second example is a continuation of that process.

So we have for many millennium genetically selected ourselves and through technology altered or avoided selection from the environment. Modern manipulation of genes is simply a continuation of that process.

Arguably the Bible (Genesis 3:21) gives support for technology in that God clothed man. In my opinion though that supports the use of technology it actually is a example of where the Bible denigrates the efforts of man in discovering this technology. Either way technology is supported, if a little disingenuously in the Bible.

Given the variation in genetic structures, the soul (should it exist given it is unproven in any way) already seems happy to occupy a wide variety of different genetic structures. Given we would only plan to alter a few, in percentage terms it is negligible. The soul shouldn't notice.

Religious driven discrimination on the other hand will ensure that no matter what the genetic change, there will be some self-righteous bigot who will try to create discord in society against that genetic difference.

[JoeyKnothead]

Great topic!

Where genetic manipulation can be used to ease suffering I say good to go. Where it is only used for vanity I say no go. Who would be the final arbiter? Danged if I know. This is why it is so important for everybody to have a good knowledge of science, and know the issues.

[Sjoerd]

Having a somewhat (but not extremely) expert perspective on the matter, I would say that we are very far off from any kind of human genetic engineering. Genetic engineering of embryos is extremely risky needlework, and gene therapy using viral vectors is clumsy, risky and does not affect the offspring. Most importantly, our knowledge of the network of human genes is still at the "what happens when I cut this wire?" stage. In a famous experiment on mice, the synthesis of the anti-cancer p53 protein, a.k.a "the guardian of the genome", was increased manifold by genetic mutation. The mouse mutants were completely free from tumors during their lives, but they aged three times as rapidly as normal mice.

I would predict that before we wil know safe reliable genetic mutations to reduce cancer or boost intelligence, we will control our machines using brain implants.