Possibilities and Problems

Possibilities

There are several 'advancements' in biotechnology that are within the realm of possibility for the future. The primary four are as follows:

• Increasing Knowledge About the Brain and the Biological Sources of Human Behavior

• Neuropharmacology and the Manipulation of Emotions and Behavior

• The Prolongation of Life

• Genetic Engineering

Increasing Knowledge About the Brain and the Biological Sources of Human Behavior

“In speaking about the biotech revolution, it is important to remember that we are talking about something much broader than genetic engineering. This scientific revolution draws on findings and advances in a number of related fields besides molecular biology, including cognitive neuroscience, population genetics, behavior genetics, psychology, anthropology, evolutionary biology, and neuropharmacology. All of these areas of scientific advance have potential political implications, because they enhance our knowledge of, and hence our ability to manipulate, the source of all human behavior, the brain.

Since at least the time of the ancient Greeks, human beings have been arguing over the relative importance of nature versus nurture in human behavior.” Although for much of the twentieth century, culturally determined norms of behavior has been favored by those in the natural and particularly the social sciences, there has been a more recent leaning back towards an understanding of behavior that is more rooted in genetics and biology. There is much talk of “‘genes for’ everything from intelligence to fatness to aggression.”

This hereditary debate has been highly politicized from the beginning, conservatives generally favoring explanations rooted primarily in nature and “those on the Left” preferring explanations rooted primarily in nurture through culture and environment in general. History (including some not so distant) has seen both extremes of the debate. However, “neither is tenable in light of the currently available empirical evidence.”

Until now, there have been only two ways to scientifically disentangle natural from cultural causes of behavior: behavior genetics and cross-cultural anthropology. These two fields of study, each with its strengths and limitations, collect extensive sample data and make inferences about the greater population. Statistically, there has been compelling, and in some cases very strong evidence supporting universal biologically or genetically determined traits. However, these studies still do not provide us with the mechanisms by which these traits are determined. In at least some cases, future studies in Molecular Biology and Genetics may in fact do so.

“This kind of scientific knowledge, even in the absence of a technology that makes use of it, has important political implications. We have already seen this happen in the case of higher-level behaviors with genetic roots – intelligence, crime, and sexuality – and there is much more to come.”

Neuropharmacology and the Manipulation of Emotions and Behavior

With the fall of the Freudian approach to treatment of mental illness came the rise of neuropharmacology which began with the discovery of Lithium’s effect on manic depressive mental patients in 1949. It was the beginning of a revolution, “a new generation of drugs, like Prozac and Ritalin, whose social impact we are only now beginning to understand.”

There is a vastly greater understanding of the biochemical nature of the brain and its mental processes today than ever before. “The dozen or so neurotransmitters, such as serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine, control the firing of nerve synapses and the transmission of signals across neurons in the brain. The levels of these neurotransmitters and the way they interact directly affect our subjective feelings of well-being, self-esteem, fear, and the like. Their baseline levels are affected by things that go on in the environment and are very much related to what we understand to be personality.”

This understanding of neurotransmitters and how to manipulate them, even today has raised some interesting issues. With the even greater discovery that the future promises, even more issues, some of which are extremely difficult and controversial, are already beginning to be raised.

The Prolongation of Life

With the dramatic increase in life-expectancy for both men and women in the last century and the more recent decrease in birth rates in particularly the Western world, the world’s social and demographic landscape has changed significantly. With the current advancements in biotechnology, additional years may be possible for those who can afford it.

“One of the areas most affected by advances in molecular biology has been gerontology, the study of aging. There are at present a nember of competing theories as to why people grow old and eventually die, with no firm consensus as to the ultimate reasons or mechanisms by which this occurs,”

a) Evolutionary Biology and reproduction

b) Molecular Biology and the Hayflick limit

i. Accumulation of random genetic damage

ii. Telomeres – non-coding bits of DNA attached to end of each chromosome

BUT there’s telomerase!

Telomerase is an enzyme that prevents the shortening of telomeres and is found in germ cells, cancer cells, and certain types of stem cells.

The Geron Corporation has already cloned and patented the human gene for telomerase and, along with Advanced Cell Technology, has an active research program into embryonic stem cells.

Although it is uncertain whether or not the biotech industry will find a “shortcut” to the prolongation of life, observers like Francis Fukuyama believe it is “fairly safe to say that the cumulative impact of all the biomedical research going on at present will be to further increase life expectancies over time and therefore to continue the trend that has been underway for the last century.”

Problems

Present

• Genetic Privacy

• Proper Uses of Drugs

• Embryonic Research

• Human Cloning

Future

• The Blurry Line Between Fixing and Improving

• 'Gen-Classes,' Human Rights, and Equality

• Effects of Altering Human Nature

• Human Dignity

Eugenics | Eugenics and Family | People of Tomorrow | Possibilities and Problems | Requirements Now for the Future