By Dick Pelletier
Science fiction has been preoccupied with technologies to
control the characteristics of our children ever since Aldous
Huxley’s Brave New
World. Now, experts say, human eugenics and the dream of
creating genetically-engineered superhumans is about to become
reality.
As a species we’ve always looked for ways to be
faster, stronger, smarter, and live longer. Many enhancements we
take for granted today; blood transfusions, vaccinations, and birth
control, seemed unnatural or immoral when first introduced. Yet
over time we’ve become accustomed to these controls over our minds
and bodies, and have used them to better ourselves and our
world.
At the turn of the 20th century, eugenics in America took the
form of state-mandated sterilization for people with mental
retardation, or somehow deemed to be a dreg on the public.
Margaret Sanger
started Planned Parenthood during this time to help rid society of
the genetically unfit. In Nazi Germany during World War II,
eugenics took the form of the Holocaust.
Though the idea of creating designer babies goes against much of
our bioethical thinking, over the next two decades, says Futurist
Magazine writer Eric Swedin, we will see an ever increasing number
of humans born with enhanced genetic characteristics.
Some level of eugenics exists today as evidenced when parents
wish for a specific gender in their child. More than 2,000 couples
have spent $20,000 each for gender-selection treatments offered by
pioneer Doctor Jeffrey Steinberg at clinics in Los Angeles and
Phoenix. (cont.)
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By Dick Pelletier
In the Arnold Schwarzenegger sci-fi film, The 6th
Day, grieving pet owners go to a company called RePet to order
a clone of their lost animal. Fast-forward to 2008 – science
fiction becomes real science. BioArts, a California biotech
company, and RNL Bio, a South Korea
high-tech firm have both announced success with dog cloning, and
are now accepting orders for cloned pets. 
RNL
Bio was the first to clone a dog in 2005 when they created
Snuppy, a trained
drug-sniffer. Scientists took genetic material from an ear cell of
Snuppy’s parent and placed it into an empty egg cell. The egg was
then stimulated to begin dividing, implanted into a surrogate
mother, and brought to term. Snuppy joins Dolly the sheep
and a growing number of rats, pigs, cows, horses, and cats.
BioArts has already created three cloned dogs and is ready to
clone five more at $100,000 each. RNL Bio
created seven narcotic detection dogs at a total cost of $300,000
and their marketing director Cho Seong-ryul believes that
technology improvements could one day lower prices to $50,000 per
dog.
Pet cloning is a two-step process. First, gene banking is
necessary to freeze and store the pet’s DNA. This includes a tissue-sampling kit priced from
$325 to $1,300; plus $20 monthly storage. These services are
available from Forever Pets, Lazeron, Cyagra, and Perpetuate. The
final step includes the actual cloning. (cont.)
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Yesterday we outlined the
falling costs of full human genome sequencing, and how it may well
hit a magic price point within the next year or two. Now, we’re
looking at the implications of mandatory genetic testing by doctors
and employers, and what that might mean for insurance and
employment. 
As clinically available genetic tests become increasingly
affordable that brings us to the cusp of the era of personal
genomics. It won’t be long before your entire genome can be
sequenced for under $1,000, and that service may even get
integrated into health care plans. But what happens if the test
isn’t optional anymore? There are growing public fears that doctors
and employers could enforce testing, and use it as a source of
discrimination.
Could poor genetic makeup become grounds for limiting or denying
access to insurance or a job? Could we end up living in a
Gattaca -like
future?
A
policy document pushing for federal legislation to protect the
public against genetic discrimination was just recently released by
the American College of Physicians (ACP). The monograph included
six policy positions, which covered the need for uniform state and
federal protection, and specific prohibition against genetic
testing usage for insurance or employment decisions.
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Dr. Dean Ornish says that your genes are not your fate.
http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/252
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Once nanotechnology, stem cell research, and genetic engineering were able to converge upon the same laboratories it became clear that a wide variety of deadly and debilitative diseases share their origin: damaged or failing tissues, organs and bodily systems. Some are chronic due to aging, others are more acute, but they have correlated pathologies after all. The interrelationships between the biggest 20th century killers of humankind became astonishingly clear, as did the road to the regenerative medicine to cure nearly all of them.
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