Re: Technological advances on genetics

Jonathan:

Wow.  What great but difficult questions to answer!  First off, let me say 
that everything that I write from here on out is my personal opinion.  You 
could ask a thousand scientists the same questions and get a thousand 
different answers.  Ok- with that disclaimer, let me attempt to answer 
your last question, “what do you have to do to create a world that is 
perfect in your opinion,” first.

I think that, as with all broad and difficult questions, the appropriate 
answer is “it depends.”  More specifically, it depends on what you 
consider to be a perfect world.  Most people equate the phrase “a perfect 
world” with a utopian society where there is no disease, wars, conflict or 
other negative aspects of life.  Webster’s dictionary defines utopia as 
follows:

1 : an imaginary and indefinitely remote place
2 often capitalized : a place of ideal perfection especially in laws, 
government, and social conditions
3 : an impractical scheme for social improvement 

Note that even the good people that write dictionaries realize that utopia 
is essentially unattainable.  This is because things that we view as 
negative in our world, like conflict and disease, are a fundamental part 
of life.  We will never abolish these things from our world (if you don’t 
believe me, try not ever arguing with another person again for the rest of 
your life ;) However, while I think most people realize that we will never 
attain a “perfect world,” we still try to improve the quality of our 
lives.  

With this in mind, lets move on to your third question, “does our recent 
failures and problems with organisms created through manipulation exhibit 
our understanding or lack of understanding of our technology.”  In short, 
yes, on both counts.  

In regard to genetics, we have been able to do amazing things using our 
current knowledge of technology.  Take cloning for example.  The fact that 
we have been able to clone complex organisms such as sheep, cows and cats 
demonstrates that we have a splendid understanding of the biological 
processes and associated technology used in cloning. Conversely, the fact 
that it takes in some cases hundreds or even thousands of attempts to 
clone an organism before an attempt is successful demonstrates that we 
still have a long way to go in perfecting the process.  

I believe we understand the technology that we have right now, but new 
advances and discoveries will lead to both a better understanding of the 
biological processes involved in cloning and, consequently, new and better 
technology.  This is because science is a process that generates 
information. Every new bit of knowledge paves the way for new 
discoveries.  Also, information itself is neutral- it is what we do with a 
piece of information that allows us to assign values like “good” and “bad” 
to it.  What one person considers to be a superfluous or diabolical use of 
genetic technology could be considered essential and necessary to another. 
Advances in genetics are no exception, which leads me to your second 
question, “should we employ every tactic to manipulate our genetics just 
because we can?”

I personally do not believe that we are trying to manipulate our 
genetics “just because we can” because that phrase insinuates that there 
is no direction or objective to genetic research, which couldn’t be 
further from the truth. Much of the research in human genetics and 
biotechnology is focused on discovering cures for diseases and creating 
new drugs to help improve the quality of life (on our quest for the 
unattainable utopian society :) With that said, I think that we should 
employ those tactics that are most likely to improve the quality of life 
for the most people.  

Of course, some will always believe that manipulating our genetics is just 
a form of “playing God.”  I personally think that this argument will be 
negated as our knowledge of genetics increases.  Advances that were once 
new and frightening will become commonplace and accepted.  However, those 
critics of genetic research are correct in one respect; we do need to 
exercise caution and vigilance in what we do with our genetic manipulating 
technologies not just so that we do not make irreversible mistakes but 
also to ensure that we continue to practice good science. 

 As with all branches of science, skepticism is an integral part of the 
discovery process.  We need to make sure that our experiments are well 
designed and repeatable and results need to be peer reviewed so that false 
claims cannot be made by any one researcher.  This will be especially 
important in the creation of new pharmaceuticals and in medical practices 
such as gene therapy.   

So, last but not least, “what does our technological advances on genetics 
mean to our future?”  I think that advances in genetics are going to 
change our world in many ways.  Perhaps the greatest improvements will be, 
as we talked about, in medicine.  But, outside of human health, genetics 
will also change the way we catch criminals, manage wildlife populations, 
and grow crops among other things.  However, it is important to keep in 
mind that how genetics impacts our wold will not only be based on the 
technological advances we make, but also social conditions, economics, 
politics, etc.  So, it is impossible to predict how quickly advances will 
be made and how each advance will impact our lives.  

We tend to like to think of genetics immediately turning our world into 
some futuristic, science-fiction place, but I can say with some degree of 
certainty that the changes will come gradually.  The best analogy I can 
think of at the moment is the invention of the automobile.  Henry Ford did 
not immediately invent the Mustang after he released the Model T.  It took 
years of development and research as well as a myriad of other factors to 
reach where we are at today in regard to transportation and I suspect the 
different branches of genetics will undergo the same process.  The ways 
genetics impacts our lives will be profound, but we will experience the 
changes  one step at a time.

I hope that this response to your question has helped you out.  Please 
feel free to contact me via e-mail if you wish to discuss the topic 
further.

Best regards,

Gail