As part of the Science, Technology, Medicine & Society Speaker Series, Marcy Darnovsky presented at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

From commercial surrogacy and sex selection, to police DNA databases and patents on life, new technologies and practices in the life sciences are raising significant challenges for the human future. Many of these issues are taking us, in the words of former Vice President Al Gore’s recent best-seller The Future, “beyond the outer edges of the moral, ethical and religious maps bequeathed to us by previous generations,” and bringing us face to face with unprecedented personal and societal decisions, and never-before-considered political and ethical dilemmas.

Responsibly used, human genetic and reproductive technologies offer promising new ways to treat disease and otherwise improve the human condition. If misused, they could exacerbate existing disparities and create high-tech forms of discrimination and inequality.

Public attention to the challenges posed by human genetics and assisted reproductive technologies is typically episodic and disconnected. Only a few public interest organizations have programs addressing them. And public policies are thin at best, especially in the US. Yet in this talk, we’ll look at signs that a new biopolitics is emerging.

It is at an early stage, perhaps comparable to the state of public understanding of environmental issues, and the capacity of organizations to address them, that existed before the publication of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring. Before too long, it will take its place alongside other social change movements of the twenty-first century.

The powerpoint presentation and event flyer are available to be viewed.

Image via Pixabay