COULD molecular science be stoking a biological timebomb? Pat Kane’s important article in Saturday’s National (Can we rely on our ‘moral force-field’ to stop cloning going too far?) raises another fast-emerging problem, this time brought about by the successes of genetic engineering.
The discovery of DNA as a double helix sequence within living cells led to the cloning of “Dolly the Sheep” at Edinburgh University. It took generations of crossbreeding by a few Scottish farmers to give us black hornless Aberdeen Angus cattle. Today, altering an organism’s features by using viral DNA can snip out certain genetic faults or enhance beneficial features. Maybe science is on the edge of creating genetically modified human beings. Would they be able to tackle the accelerating changes we currently face, such as quantum computing and artificial intelligence?
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Is genetic engineering moving into the hands of the big-money boys? Democracy and us non-modified humans are subjected to the mental traits of political corruption and megalomania at top levels.
In 1939 a ruthless dictator planned a “master race”. We ordinary mortals must trust that the latest biological advances don’t fall into similar hands.
Iain R Thomson
Strathglass
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