House of Cards

Apart from the issue of interaction with the so-called ‘Junk’ DNA which makes up around 98% of the genome (which was only considered to be junk because no one had worked out what it did), splicing powerful genetic functionality together from disparate sources is alien to the diverse genepool of life that has evolved over billions of years, and if unleashed upon this genepool it will, over time, distort and mutate myriad species as it propagates through the delicate mesh of interconnected systems which maintain our very existence.  The threat of unintended consequences has never been so clearly etched upon the hubris of mankind…

Thus, just as with other keys to fundamental powers of nature such as nuclear fission and fusion, genetic manipulation has the power to kill or cure on a vast scale.  One could be easily argue that its potential to heal or harm is even more extreme.  It is clearly up to man to ensure that he has the wisdom and long-sightedness to avoid the existential threats that genetic manipulation can pose through unintended consequences over the longer term in particular.

DNA is the fundamental code that defines all lifeforms, providing the framework and tools which have allowed the evolution of life into its myriad interconnected forms over hundreds of millions of years.  Even seemingly minor alterations of the genetic code of life can produce potentially catastrophic unforeseen side-effects which can then be faithfully transmitted down the generations and propagated out into the genepool over millennia as life continues to evolve and adapt. 

Unlike the natural random mutations which act as ‘dither’ signals, allowing organisms to delicately and sensitively evolve within ever changing environments, these manually purposed ‘mutations’ have the potential to distort and degrade the evolutionary process over time and propagate like ripples through the environment.  The resultant adjustments effectively imprint the distortion – which is often completely unrelated to the organism’s environment – upon the DNA of other organisms which come into contact with it. 

Clearly this process has the potential to degrade the fitness and biodiversity of other lifeforms; first in the local environment and then spreading out year on year into other bio-systems worldwide.  In the highly non-linear and complex web of interactions that is normally manipulated by the environment driving evolution through random mutations, the manual ‘mutation’ itself is attempting to drive the environment, with the resultant disturbance potentially propagating out chaotically via the so-called ‘butterfly effect.’ 

The manual modification of genes is powerful indeed, but the full true cost and impact upon the integrity and stability of life could take many millennia to unfold or just a few years.  With this is mind, it is quite literally vital that extremely stringent and robust control mechanisms are put in place in order to prevent contamination of the world’s genepool by ill thought out expressions of man’s stupidity and short-sightedness.

 

Combined Humanity

The health of an ecosystem is critically dependent upon the diversity of its members.  Similarly, just as biodiversity is critical for the integrity of life, human diversity is vital in ensuring a healthy and robust society.  

Further; just as love and compassion are central to what it means to be truly human, finding better ways to support those in need, and to ensure that all can achieve their maximum potential out of life are key to reaching the oneness that will allow mankind to fully realise his potential…

Each has his part to play in the panoply of humanity: just as Alan Turing’s computer would have remained just a dream were it not for a Tommy Flowers to turn it into reality during man’s darkest hours, each in his own way forms part of the interwoven fabric of life, joining forces to make much more than the sum of its parts…

And technology itself is an expression of man’s desire to solve problems; whether allowing the deaf to hear or the blind see, the silenced to speak or the paralysed walk.  More than this; in addressing these issues, technologies can be developed for application within the wider world, helping man both to think more clearly and to understand more deeply; to make a bigger difference…    

Freedom of Expression

Yet just as epigenetically imprinted experiences from the lives of past generations can alter how genes are expressed in the present, gene therapies can repair faults in expression whether developed within a person’s lifetime or propagated and accumulated over many generations, without altering the DNA…

Other gene therapies include using ‘tamed’ viruses to insert missing genes into defective cells.  Although the virus is manipulated in order to remove or reduce its toxicity and replicating abilities, this technique corrects cell defects, rather than trying to build new hybrid lifeforms with genes spliced from various sources in order to produce a tailored artificial product.

 

 

Nothing’s ever black and white

 

Do Not Alter

In Memory of Douglas N Adams…

Whilst, as you know, science can be wonderful – such as the ongoing Deep Impact research ultimately aimed at better understanding the universe as well as identifying potential ways that we can protect our world from impacts – scientists can also become overconfident in the power of their world models to the detriment of their research and potentially the environment in general. 

For example, further to recent articles on screening embryos for cancer genes, it’s probably also worth noting that Jim Watson of DNA fame has advocated screening and termination for genes that flag a tendency towards “severe mental illness.”  Along with his own son, persons who would probably not have made it past the womb if such technology had been available and implemented in the past include: B Aldrin, H C Andersen, J Barrie, I Berlin, R Burns, W Churchill, S Clemens, F F Coppola, N Coward, R Davies, C Dickens, E Elgar, A Einstein, S Fry, P Gabriel, P Gauguin, V van Gogh, K Graham, G Greene, E Hemingway, G Holst, J Keats, E Leer, V Leigh, S Milligan, Michelangelo, E Munch, M Mussorgsky, I Nastase, I Newton, C Parker, N Pagett, J Pollock, C Porter, C Pride, S Rachmaninoff, A Rose, M Rothko, R L Stevenson, G Sumner, A Tennyson, L Tolstoy, T Waits, G F Watts, V Woolf, B Wilson and E Zola amongst many others (based upon an analysis of bibliographical and medical data performed by K R Jamison, an expert on severe mental illness).  You may have heard of some of these.

Similarly, whilst global warming has the potential to cause the extinction of mankind - along with tens of thousands of other predominantly “higher order” species (such as other primates, mammals, birds, and so on), genetic modification by humans is easily capable of inflicting far more damage upon the integrity and diversity of life itself – which could cause the extinction of millions of life forms, and take a billion years or more to repair.  The Genome project is vitally important, but not the manner in which many of its results are attempted to be used at this time.  Life has always survived major environmental changes and catastrophes through integrity and diversity. 

However, much of current genetic research is aimed at reducing or eliminating diversity, based upon spurious grounds supported by flawed models and arguments.  Just as research into cloning continues, the religious push to have everyone thinking in similar ways has been supplanted by a scientific push to remove that which deviates from the “normal” – essentially generating a monoculture (like the mythic Aryan race that the deeply religious Adolphus Schickelgrüber – that charismatic leader who lived beside a Benedictine monastery in childhood and wanted to be a priest – even adopting the Swastika from their coat of arms as his symbol - struggled so hard to re-establish.) 

Food for thought?