Germline Warfare
By Ralph Brave,
The Nation
| 04. 07. 2003
A most remarkable event occurred in the weeks preceding the
June 2000 announcement of the completion of the first draft
of the human genome DNA code: One of the leaders of the genome
project publicly called for strict limits on what the scientific
community should be permitted to do with the human genetic blueprint
now in hand.
At a conference at MIT, Dr. Eric Lander, leader of the team
that decoded the largest portion of the genome, called the conference
to attention with this surprisingly stark suggestion:
Already, there are well-meaning discussions about improving
the human DNA. I find this somewhat hubristic myself. [The human
genome] has been 3.5 billion years in the making. We've been
able to read it for the last, oh, I don't know, year or so.
And we suddenly think we could write the story better? It's
very amusing.
There is the prospect that by changing things we might put
off aging, prevent cancer, improve memory. I find it a very
difficult question. For my own part, I would put an absolute
ban in place on...
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• • •
Bioethics needs an update
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