Are scientists close to making designer babies and animals?
A micrograph of a micro-needle about to inject human sperm into a human egg cell: Are we going to make ‘special people’ to do certain duties? PHOTO | FILE
Britain has become the first country to legalise three-parent babies technique. The upper house voted for the law to be changed to allow this technique to be used in In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF).
This means that probably by end of 2016 the world will have the first child legally born out of genetically modified embryo carrying DNA from a mother, a father and a female donor.
I use the word legally because probably as we speak such children may have been born in experiments or in science fiction movies. The other reason is that unlike in the past where the law was fairly ahead of innovation, recently legislation has been playing catch up in a world full of new ideas.
Whether this development is good or bad depends on one’s perception of the world and understanding of science. Supporters suggest that the process involve removing DNA that is faulty which can cause inherited diseases such as heart problems and replacing it with normal DNA from the donor.
This means that the child is saved from inheriting such diseases, which makes perfect sense. Opposers say it is interference with a natural process that can cause catastrophic genetic problems to generations. They also term the process as crude.
Those opposing are mainly driven by the fear of the unknown similar to those associated with the genetically modified foods by activists.
We had a discussion about this and concluded that in future we will need another planet for perfect people born out of such processes. This was driven by the fact that such processes are expensive, hence they will be the preserve of the rich.
This also has implications on human capital as such people can easily demand minority rights in future. India had to allow for a third gender — ‘Others’ — to accommodate people who may not be strictly male or female.
We also noted some statistics indicating the by 2020 a double-digit percentage of working population will be robots. Imagine a world where the security is provided by robots. In Kinshasa, there are talking traffic control robots and the public prefer them to the human traffic police.
It is predicted that in future robots will be surgeons, take care of the sick, conduct domestic chores and be farmers. According to research by UK Office of Science and Innovations, robots could one day demand rights as humans.
The CEO of Google Ventures was quoted as stating that they are heavily investing in life-prolonging science. Responding to the question whether humans can live for 500 years; the answer was yes. When actualised, this will call for a review of vocabulary in order to know how to refer to someone who is, say, 10 generations back in your lineage.
According to a Bloomberg article, hunters in South Africa are paying a premium of more than 100 times to shoot white lions and golden hued wild beasts than they would pay to shoot normal ones. The commercialisation opportunity in breeding designer animals for trigger-happy hunters is compelling to any investor.
Similar commercial opportunities are implied breeding IVF in breeding humans for future talents such as socialites, artists among others; a fact that activists are not supporting. The landscape is changing rapidly and we need to constantly refresh our approach to life and business.
It also means that the train left the station long ago and if we resist these developments we risk being left behind.
The writer is the marketing director of SBO Research
