About a week ago The New York Times ran a very interesting article about new gene editing techniques that some are concerned would be used to enhance intelligence or beauty, creating genetically improved individuals:
A group of leading biologists on Thursday called for a
worldwide moratorium on use of a new genome-editing technique that would alter
human DNA in a way that can be inherited. The biologists fear that the new technique is so effective
and easy to use that some physicians may push ahead before its safety can be
assessed. They also want the public to understand the ethical issues
surrounding the technique, which could be used to cure genetic diseases, but
also to enhance qualities like beauty or intelligence. The latter is a path
that many ethicists believe should never be taken. “You could exert control over human heredity with this
technique, and that is why we are raising the issue,” said David Baltimore, a
former president of the California Institute of Technology and a member of the
group whose paper
on the topic was published in the journal Science.
How often are beauty and virtue conjoined? How often are power and wealth found along with virtue? True intelligence must occur with virtue or it becomes an instrument of evil. At one time I admired Oppenheimer--perhaps for his quoting the Bhagavad Gita at the right moment. But now I think he was rash and unwise to go ahead with a test before the war was over--and it was almost. He and his other very intelligent cohorts could have delayed matters. But as far as I know they did not even consider doing so. So more beauty and intelligence would not automatically mean a better world; it might indeed mean one more entangling and eventually destructive. We are clearly more than our physical bodies and would be wise to leave them alone and not fiddle with things way beyond our comprehension. As with atomic research genetic research goes through a door that only the wise should pass through or perhaps not. As a people we should spend time contemplating the myth of Pandora's box as it tells our story.
I am a Professor at a large public university. I study political economy and biopolitics (the politics of life). My interests are diverse but are broadly concerned with economic, social and environmental justice.
How often are beauty and virtue conjoined? How often are power and wealth found along with virtue? True intelligence must occur with virtue or it becomes an instrument of evil. At one time I admired Oppenheimer--perhaps for his quoting the Bhagavad Gita at the right moment. But now I think he was rash and unwise to go ahead with a test before the war was over--and it was almost. He and his other very intelligent cohorts could have delayed matters. But as far as I know they did not even consider doing so. So more beauty and intelligence would not automatically mean a better world; it might indeed mean one more entangling and eventually destructive. We are clearly more than our physical bodies and would be wise to leave them alone and not fiddle with things way beyond our comprehension. As with atomic research genetic research goes through a door that only the wise should pass through or perhaps not. As a people we should spend time contemplating the myth of Pandora's box as it tells our story.
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