The Biotechnological Revolution
The Biotechnological Revolution
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
For much of the twentieth century, those in the natural and particularly the social sciences preferred to use culturally determined norms of behavior to explain human behavior. However, more recent scholarship favor explanations that are more rooted in genetics and biology.
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.
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.
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.” (Fukuyama, )
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.” (Fukuyama, )
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.”
Genetic Engineering
Today, genetic engineering is used commonly in agricultural biotechnology to produce genetically modified organisms such as Bt corn (which produces its own insecticide) or Roundup Ready soybeans (which are resistant to certain weed control herbicides).
Despite completion of the Human Genome Project, contemporary biotechnology is today very far from being able to modify human DNA in the way that it can modify the DNA of corn or beef cattle. Some argue that this will never be achieved and that the “ultimate prospects for genetic technology have been “grossly overhyped.” (Fukuyama, p. 79) We need, then, as Fukuyama suggests, “a balanced assessment of what this technology can be expected to achieve and a sense of the constraints that it may eventually face.” (Fukuyama, p. 79)
In spite of the mapping of the Human Genome, there is very limited understanding of it and, as Francis Fukuyama notes, “all the sequencing did was present the transcript of a book written in a language that is only partially understood.” (Fukuyama, p. 73) Much of the advancement in genetic engineering depends on the progress in proteomics and bioinformatics.
However, there are certain indications that genetic engineering is not a prospect to be removed from the table. As Fukuyama notes, “That the multiple functions of genes and gene interactions are highly complex does not mean that all human genetic engineering will be on hold until we understand them.” No technology ever develops in this fashion. New drugs are invented, tested, and approved for use all the time without the manufacturers knowing exactly how they produce their effects. There are other reasons for a serious consideration of the prospect of genetic engineering but these will be discussed in the following sections.
