01.17.07
Is 99% Human, Human?
Every great technological advance is a trade off, but none are without cost and it should always be remembered that some changes are irrevocable. Scientists want to create the hybrid embryos that would be around 99.9 per cent human and 0.1 per cent animal in order to produce embryonic stem cells - the body’s basic building blocks that can grow into all other types of cells. Please understand, I am not one of these ideaologs that opposes stem cell research on religious grounds. In fact, I don’t oppose it at all. I’m just saying lets look over the horizon at where we are going here.
Humans working in groups sometimes develop a group think mentality that causes them to lose sight of the bigger picture. There was an airliner disaster that was caused because the crew became so fixated on whether the nose wheel was locked that no one noticed the auto pilot had become disengaged. Only when the engineer looked through the wheel sight hole to assure that it was indeed down and locked did he scream his last word, trees! Scientists are no exception and the line here is fine and hard to discern for the open-minded. The scientific community promises us miracle cures while many theologians decry heresy.
So where is the goal line? And where is the foul line? Who could be against miracle cures? When advanced technology was segregated in the first world nations, it was an easy matter to control the direction of where the research went. But now there are thousands of laboratories with thousands of qualified technicians and researchers all over the world. In effect if the town’s people burn Frankenstein out of one castle, he just runs down the street to the next castle. In now our second century of technology haven’t we learned yet that mankind’s reach is always greater than his grasp?
Are we approaching Huxley’s “Brave New World” and is there anything we can do about it? Will our grandchildren introduce us to their fiancée and will we ask rather than is he Catholic or Jewish or black or white, is he human? “Of course he is grandpa -76% anyway, he’s part horse and cow on his mothers side but with my cooking that’s a good thing and you should see him run!” How far can it go? Once the species barrier is breached it can never be repaired.
The problem with modern science and technology is it’s a race. First place wins all second place is last place. The Titanic didn’t hit an iceberg because of negligence on the part of crew or captain or a design flaw, but because of the companies desire to be the fastest into New York. So what happens when we hit a technological iceberg? For you know sooner or later we will. No one expected killer bees to escape from the lab but what happens when a genetic killer bee escapes into our gene pool? What then will constitute human? 99%? 86%? Will future birth certificates have a box to be marked human content? Will those so created become a new minority group? Will the law and society persecute them? Will cowboy become a derogatory remark? “I would have gotten that job but I could tell by the way the boss was looking at me while I was chewing, he hates cows!” Will they gain exemption from the law? “Your honor my client was not trespassing. He merely saw the golf course and was overwhelmed by the desire to graze. He couldn’t help himself your honor, it’s his biological make up.”
Perhaps I’m looking at this all wrong. Maybe this could be our salvation. Maybe science can create humans immune to the extra ultra violet light from our degraded ozone layer. Maybe science could develop malnutrition resistant third world children? Or perhaps, in the best of both worlds, humans that absorb greenhouse gasses and excrete gasoline.
I understand that like all humans I fear what I don’t understand while, at the same time, I have seen enough new technologies enter the world to know they never develop as the designers promise. Remember, nuclear power was going to put and end our fuel woes and television was going to revolutionize education!
Latest posts by DaveParts
- The More Inconvenient Truth - February 1st, 2007
Peter Taylor said,
January 18, 2007 at 8:28 am
The potential danger stems from the lack of oversight on the process. Surely some corporation will exploit the technology to the detriment of the masses who will slowly suffer from a deteriorating genetic makeup. Once the talking heads figure out that this poses a danger, it will be too late. What would we do then, cleanse the gene pool. Frightening to even consider.