CGS-authored
BERKELEY -- Two leading thinkers in the field of genetic engineering told an audience at UC Berkeley last night that human capability to design children is not a distant dream but a coming reality that presents moral challenges American society is not yet prepared to deal with.
The event featured Bill McKibben, author of nine books and a writer for Harpers, New York Review of Books and the Atlantic, and Marcy Darnovsky, Associate Executive Director of the Center for Genetics and Society, a group dedicated to encouraging socially responsible use of new human genetic technology.
"This is not a debate, but rather an issue briefing," said Michael Pollan, a UC Berkeley journalism professor, who introduced the event. "We may have the power to give our grandchildren attributes they might not otherwise have. Should we, as a species, avail ourselves of this power?"
Fifteen years ago the idea of designing corn resistant to pests seemed a far off dream. Now scientists have created rabbits that glow in the dark because their DNA has been recombined with that of phosphorescent jellyfish.
The...
The event featured Bill McKibben, author of nine books and a writer for Harpers, New York Review of Books and the Atlantic, and Marcy Darnovsky, Associate Executive Director of the Center for Genetics and Society, a group dedicated to encouraging socially responsible use of new human genetic technology.
"This is not a debate, but rather an issue briefing," said Michael Pollan, a UC Berkeley journalism professor, who introduced the event. "We may have the power to give our grandchildren attributes they might not otherwise have. Should we, as a species, avail ourselves of this power?"
Fifteen years ago the idea of designing corn resistant to pests seemed a far off dream. Now scientists have created rabbits that glow in the dark because their DNA has been recombined with that of phosphorescent jellyfish.
The...