ReproGenetics Makes Huge Strides in SE Asia
Ok..so I am just recently home from a dinner and talk by Lee Silver...author of this semster's Dean's Book selection "Remaking Eden" and a well known biogenetic researcher and social policy professor at Princeton. Nice dinner but info overload and somewhat disturbing on several fronts.
One of the thousands of pieces of info he dumped on us was this: South Korea, Singapore and China are making HUGE leaps in the fields of human reproductive genetics, genetic engineering, cloning, etc. Mostly, he says this is because their spirituality (largely Buddism) does not take issue with embryo manipulation and such. So, they are pouring billions into the research, new science centers, attracting tons of researchers there, and patenting stuff left and right. Yes, this stuff is patent protected...including gene lines etc. In the US (and most of Europe) research is basically stalled b/c of Judeo/Christian values regarding the protection of the embryo, & ideas about man playing God, as well as a lot of fears about cloning and eugenics etc that are not really scientifically based. These technologies are advancing very rapidly and likely hold the keys for the future of medicine (like disease prevention, immunology) as well as reproductive manipulation for everything from sex to intelligence..and more. Does the US's restricting the research then leave us out of the loop and then without any ability to control it's use? Does it matter if we are out of the conversation..out of the financial benefits, and out of the spheres of influence about usage...etc?
What about the details....What protection does an embryo deserve and why? What shoud happen to embryos that are not implanted? What about cloning where adult cells are used.... What about stem cell research from, enbryos or fetuses....or from living adult nasal or gum tissue.... As a Christian where do I stand on this stuff?
And.....should I care about these advances being controlled by say... So.Korea, Singapore or China?
One of the thousands of pieces of info he dumped on us was this: South Korea, Singapore and China are making HUGE leaps in the fields of human reproductive genetics, genetic engineering, cloning, etc. Mostly, he says this is because their spirituality (largely Buddism) does not take issue with embryo manipulation and such. So, they are pouring billions into the research, new science centers, attracting tons of researchers there, and patenting stuff left and right. Yes, this stuff is patent protected...including gene lines etc. In the US (and most of Europe) research is basically stalled b/c of Judeo/Christian values regarding the protection of the embryo, & ideas about man playing God, as well as a lot of fears about cloning and eugenics etc that are not really scientifically based. These technologies are advancing very rapidly and likely hold the keys for the future of medicine (like disease prevention, immunology) as well as reproductive manipulation for everything from sex to intelligence..and more. Does the US's restricting the research then leave us out of the loop and then without any ability to control it's use? Does it matter if we are out of the conversation..out of the financial benefits, and out of the spheres of influence about usage...etc?
What about the details....What protection does an embryo deserve and why? What shoud happen to embryos that are not implanted? What about cloning where adult cells are used.... What about stem cell research from, enbryos or fetuses....or from living adult nasal or gum tissue.... As a Christian where do I stand on this stuff?
And.....should I care about these advances being controlled by say... So.Korea, Singapore or China?
posted by Carol Soules at 11:12 PM
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