Biotechnology: Time for Regulation?

In the future, parents may be able to select certain genetic characteristics for their children.

The use of genetic manipulation to create healthier, stronger, and smarter humans was once largely dismissed as fanciful. But today “the technology is galloping ahead,” with human-animal hybrids, the patenting of human embryos, and other potentially undesirable outcomes not too far in the future, according to Francis Fukuyama, a professor of political economy at Johns Hopkins University and a former member of the President’s Council on Bioethics. In a new report released Friday, Fukuyama and co-author Franco Furger support genetic engineering to support human wellbeing but call for greater government oversight of biotechnology research and application.

According to Fukuyama and Furger, the United Kingdom’s Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) is a good example of an agency that promotes and regulates genetic engineering research. Fukuyama notes that in the United States, such an agency would need to reflect the country’s “middle-ground” position on issues of human genetic engineering and to place priority on the health and wellbeing of women and children, and on other therapeutic or healing uses of biotechnology, rather than on genetic “enhancement.” While Fukuyama doesn’t expect a U.S. biotech regulatory agency to be approved overnight, he says, the purpose of the report is to lay the groundwork for a time when a crisis or other necessity mandates the creation of such a body.

Richard Hayes of the Center for Genetics and Society, speaking at the report’s Washington, D.C. release, agreed that while biotechnology holds great promise for humankind, there is a grave risk of it going awry, with the creation of “superior humans” and a radical eugenics movement. Fukuyama and Furger’s outlook corresponds with Hayes’ recent World Watch analysis of four different biopolitical futures, three of which may be undesirable for most humans. Environmentalists and other social activists can play an important role in creating the fourth scenario, which is “for the common good,” according to Hayes. “The new genetic technologies, whether they involve plants, animals, humans, or ecosystems, are among the most consequential technologies humanity has ever contemplated,” he explained. “Environmentalists have an enormous stake to see these technologies are used to promote a sustainable, just, and truly human future.”

More Resources:

July/August 2002 Issue of World Watch: Beyond Cloning (Free Download)

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