Human Biotechnology: Responding to Emerging Dangerous New Human Genetics
By Jesse Reynolds,
Z Magazine
| 03. 31. 2003
As 2003 began, the mainstream press was grappling with a cloning hoax. This January, it launched extended coverage of the 50th anniversary of the identification of DNA's structure. Both events provided golden opportunities to deepen public understanding of the social and political implications of new human genetic and reproductive technologies.
Unfortunately, the media have mostly flubbed these opportunities. The coverage of the Raelians' cloning claims obscured rather than illuminated the critical issues. Early signs on the second media opportunity-a series of carefully planned celebrations throughout the spring-are none too promising. Fortunately, a civil society response to dangerous new human genetic and reproductive technologies is emerging in a number of countries, as witnessed at January's World Social Forum in Brazil.
The year's first human biotechnology media frenzy actually began at the end of December 2002, when a previously obscure alien-chasing sect announced that its scientists had produced the world's first human clone. The initial news reaction appropriately focused on whether the claim could be true. But by the time the Raelians' excuses as to why they were unable to show the...
Related Articles
Not the species, certainly, but the Institute of that name, which was founded by transhumanist philosopher Nick Bostrom in 2005 as a research group at Oxford University. According to a recently posted Final Report, its goal was “to pursue the big questions in a transdisciplinary way” by pulling together “researchers from disciplines such as philosophy, computer science, mathematics, and economics.” This evolved before long into the study and promotion of “effective altruism” and “longtermism” as...
By Yelena Biberman and Jonathan D. Moreno, Bioethics Forum | 04.16.2024
A quiet biological revolution in warfare is underway. The genome is emerging as a new domain of conflict. The level of destruction that only nuclear weapons could previously achieve is fast becoming as accessible as a cyberattack.
Now for the...
By Tristan Manalac, BioSpace | 04.02.2024
Verve Therapeutics has suspended enrollment in the Phase Ib Heart-1 study evaluating its lead gene editing program VERVE-101 following a serious adverse event, the company announced Tuesday.
A patient, who received a 0.45-mg/kg dose of VERVE-101, developed a grade 3...
By Timnit Gebru and Émile P. Torres, First Monday | 04.14.2024
The stated goal of many organizations in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) is to develop artificial general intelligence (AGI), an imagined system with more intelligence than anything we have ever seen. Without seriously questioning whether such a system can...