Nexus - 0404 - New Times Magazine-pages

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societal values; such protection must be mandated... Other more exotic schemes include ‘adapting’ humans for deep- Despite moves in the US and Europe to tighten controls on space travel. This may sound like a giddy science fiction sce- genetic discrimination, to date no such protection exists in nario, but, already, one Australian company is developing pine Australia. and eucalypt species that do not require open pollination. It was Bob Phelps of the GeneEthics Network told this writer that: shown in studies carried out in the "Biosphere" project that the once the human genome has been mapped, it has the poten - pollinators had difficulty surviving. Is the biotech industry ready- tial to become a standard, or norm, for all people—against ing to create artificial environments outside the Earth's biosphere which we will then be measured for our normality or abnor - in deep space? mality. It is going to lead potentially to some great discrimi - Could we ‘adapt’ the human species to explore the deep oceans, nations and other adverse social consequences... or ‘produce’ soldiers resistant to agents of biological war? Such This has great significance for us all. The coercive forces of proposals are currently under consideration. economic rationalism that equate progress with cost efficiency In publicity over the recent cloning of "Dolly" the sheep, it could dictate that it would be cost-effective to reduce the number _ seems to have been forgotten that human embryos have already of genetically disabled people. People with disabilities or illness- been cloned. In 1993, researchers Stillman and Hall, of George es could become doomed by their genes. Public policy could Washington University, USA, cloned 48 human embryos, none of ressure or even compel people not to bring genetically damaged which grew for more than six days. children into the world for the sake of the gene pool and in the Dolly, the cloned sheep, born at the Roslin Institute in Scotland interests of keeping down public health costs. in July 1996, was ‘unveiled’ in February 1997 after patent applica- New genetics techniques that might extend our lives could justi- tions were filed and research papers prepared for publication. The fy experiments on the terminally ill on the basis that they are non-profit Roslin Institute is part-funded by PPL Therapeutics, a ‘doomed anyway’ and so have ‘nothing to lose’. Equally, projects biotech company formed in 1987 to commercialise the Roslin that generate large incomes for researchers and potentially huge Institute's research. profits for private corporations could be oversold. According to RAFI, PPL Therapeutics has several human pro- George Annas, lawyer and Professor of Public Health at Boston _ tein products in development and holds a US patent on a method University, says there are powerful to produce therapeutic proteins in the forces at work in our society that milk of transgenic sheep. PPL has could combine to affect dramatically research agreements with at least four the rights and welfare of the less than major pharmaceutical corporations genetically perfect, creating a culture including Novo-Nordisk, American in which people are valued and Other more exotic schemes Home Products, Bayer and devalued based on their genetic . q Al Boehringer Ingleheim. endowment. Embryos could be include adapting humans for Scientists believe that cloned ani- screened and nurtured based on deep- space travel. mals with genetically engineered genetic quality. Writing about the Human Genome Project, Annas says that our fetish for efficiency, our quest for immor- tality, our belief in commercialism and its handmaiden hype will contin- ue the slide down the slippery slope. The question now is: how —_ US$18.5 billion by 2000. traits will become highly efficient, living drug-factories for ‘use’ in the manufacture of therapeutic proteins. The market for therapeutic proteins is currently about US$7.6 billion per annum and is expected to grow to far and how fast? Cloned animals could be exploited as ‘spare parts' factories for humans. Transgenic pig clones, for example, could be genetically THE BIO-ELITES' VISION FOR THE FUTURE engineered to be a source of replacement organs for humans. The brave new future that Aldous Huxley depicted is already In the twilight years of the 20th century, human biotechnology upon us, with many techniques he envisaged already available or joins the ranks of environmental decay, nuclear conflict, surveil- at least being taken seriously by reputable scientists. lance technology, monopoly ownership and government-spon- The 1995 "foresighting program" conducted by the Australian sored corporatism as one of the most dangerous threats to our Science and Technology Council (ASTEC) provides an insight physical, intellectual and spiritual freedom. into the future. Under the heading, "Scenario for 2010: Impact of The slide down the slippery slope has already begun, but public Research into the Human Genome and Environmental Impact on opinion can dictate how fast and how far we go. If we do not act Health", ASTEC suggests that our future may be determined by a now, our future will be determined by the bio-elites. 00 Fila . hh ohanld « 1d dat. na tha include ‘adapting’ humans for deep- space travel. THE BIO-ELITES' VISION FOR THE FUTURE The brave new future that Aldous Huxley depicted is already upon us, with many techniques he envisaged already available or at least being taken seriously by reputable scientists. The 1995 "foresighting program" conducted by the Australian Science and Technology Council (ASTEC) provides an insight into the future. Under the heading, "Scenario for 2010: Impact of Research into the Human Genome and Environmental Impact on Health", ASTEC suggests that our future may be determined by a genetic profile—which would determine that individuals should eat certain designer foods and have certain designer therapies throughout life to prevent the onset of genetic disease. If people were not willing to be engineered in such a way, they could be refused insurance, employment and education. This way, genetic destiny would be manipulated by designer foods and designer therapies. The advocates of the recently developed concept of "auto-evo- lution" theorise that elite groups of humans should use existing gene technologies to start directing the evolution of their off- spring. Auto-evolutionists envisage that in six generations, or 350 years, humans would be unrecognisable. References: Books + Annas, George J., "The Human Genome Project in Perspective: Confronting our Past to Protect our Future" in When Medicine Went Mad: Bioethics and the Holocaust (Arthur L. Caplan, ed.), Humana Press, Totowa, New Jersey, USA, 1992. + ASTEC (Australian Science and Technology Council), "Developing Long-Term Strategies for Science and Technology in Australia", findings of the study, Matching Science and Technology to Future Needs 2010, Australian Government Publishing Service, Australia, 1996. * ASTEC, Gene Technology Issues for Australia, Occ. Paper No. 27, AGPS, August 1993. * Bains, William, Biotechnology from A-Z, Oxford University Press, UK, 1993. * Cook-Deegan, Robert, The Gene Wars: Science, Politics and the Human Genome, W. W. Norton &Company, New York, 1994. Continued on page 83 JUNE - JULY 1997 NEXUS -35 Other more exotic schemes