TO TWEAK OR NOT TO TWEAK
There have been some interesting articles over the weekend inspired by the release of geneticist and broadcaster Adam Rutherford’s book: Control: the Dark History and Troubling Present of Eugenics.
I have a copy waiting for me at my local bookshop and can’t wait to get stuck in, as this subject is close to my heart.
The book illustrates how eugenics is embedded in our history, right back to the Spartans and Romans, through to the forced sterilisation policies practised in American states last century and the horrors of the Nazi regime, up to the modern day.
We might like to think we have moved on from unpalatable notions of human selective breeding to expunge ‘undesirable’ traits, and that higher concepts of freedom and equality have relegated eugenics to a shameful past. Sadly not. Rutherford discusses recent examples of involuntary sterilisations in Canada, China and India, to name but three.
One thing however, that has most definitely moved on, is the technology to manipulate our genetic code and rewrite our biological destiny. Which includes, according to some, the potential to actively manage and prevent not only inherited diseases, but also certain mental and physical characteristics.
And that is what makes this whole discussion so pertinent.
We don’t want to fall into the ethical trap cited famously by Dr Malcolm in Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park:
"Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn't stop to think if they should"
For now, at least, the scientific majority has stopped to consider the ethical pitfalls of tinkering with human genomes. Not least the code-breaker herself, Jennifer Doudna, who, with her partner, Emmanuelle Charpentier, developed a method called CRISPR-Cas9 that revolutionised genome editing, and for which they received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2020.
Doudna has been vocal on her concerns about the nefarious abuse of her discovery.
She has spoken of a terrible nightmare where Adolf Hitler is introduced to her: he is wearing a pig face and asks her to tell him about her ‘amazing technology’.
A self-imposed moratorium on editing human embryos outside the lab may still be in force, but investment in gene editing research and the proliferation of biotech companies working in this area continue apace.
My latest thriller, Off Target, explores some of the social and moral quandaries that might arise should that voluntary moratorium be lifted.
Off Target is set in a world where genetic engineering of babies during IVF to prevent serious conditions has become routine. But, in some countries, less scrupulous clinics are offering a lot more than disease prevention, moving into the realm of selective enhancement, with disastrous consequences.
The book centres around this premise: how much would a parent risk for the ‘perfect’ baby?
The truth is that most parents want the best for their child, but at what point does well-intentioned parenting cross the line?
This question has been answered rather poignantly by Arthur Kaplan, Professor of Bioethics at New York University Langone Medical Center:
“Renegade scientists and totalitarian loonies are not the folks most likely to abuse genetic engineering. You and I are - not because we are bad but because we want to do good.
In a world dominated by competition, parents understandably want to give their kids every advantage... The most likely way for eugenics to enter into our lives is through the front door, as nervous parents ... will fall over one another to be first to give Junior a better set of genes.”
Something to ponder.
In what I gleaned from the articles, Adam Rutherford argues that complex genetic changes leading to the enhancement of mental or physical human traits will not be within the bounds of possibility, safely, any time soon. Safely being the operative word.
But, given the speed at which this technology is advancing, and the dollars dedicated to exploring such possibilities, you have to wonder if scientific ambition might yet take us by surprise.
Off Target is published on 17th February and is available from all good bookstores, or you can order here. It is also available as an audio and ebook.
More background on genetic dilemmas and other inspirations for my book are available here.
