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The last 30 years have brought unparalleled advances in biotechnology, but in the case of stem-cell research, we will pay a heavy price unless we restrain the huge potential for abuse of the new procedures. Consumer's Guide to a Brave New World argues convincingly that these procedures are likely to cause many more problems than they will solve. The author paints a bleak picture of the future, replete with eugenics, babies made to order, and human-animal hybrids. The book is not a polemic, however, and it is written from a secular point of view. The writer begins by reviewing the stem-cell debate of 2001. No one objects to the use of certain kinds of stem cells, such as those taken from adult tissue (which appear, from all evidence, to work the best anyway); the controversy concerns the destruction of human embryos in order to harvest stem cells. President Bush settled on a compromise: only existing embryonic stem-cell lines would receive federal funding. The biotech advocates were dissatisfied. If we accede to their demands, Smith says, we will enter the fast track to a Brave New World. Cloning embryos and destroying them lead to two serious moral dilemmas. The first is essentially a continuation of the abortion debate as to whether the unborn child should have the right to live, but with the additional factor of treating the embryos as commodities for sale. The other problem with cloning embryos is that it paves the way for bringing cloned humans into the world. Smith treats us to a detailed account of various cloned animals such as Dolly the sheep. Cloned animals have almost universally proven defective and developed serious health problems in a short time. Cloning advocates argue, of course, that it is only a matter of time before these problems are solved, but opponents believe that attempting to fundamentally alter nature can only lead to harm. Smith makes a cogent observation: cloning advocates tend to focus on the desires of the would-be cloners, while opponents focus on the negative impact that cloning would have on the child and society at large. A cloned child, aside from probable numerous health defects, would suffer identity and individuality problems; moreover, as human procreation becomes further removed from nature, parents are likely to want to control every aspect of their children's genetic makeup instead of receiving what they are given. Procreation could, in fact, become a tool for reintroducing eugenics, as is clear from listening to cloning advocates speak about creating a "master race." At the heart of the cloning debate, the author believes, is the argument of whether or not the limits nature has imposed upon us should be overridden. The human race has made huge progress in treating disease. Cloning, however, involves altering the fundamental two-parent genetic makeup of a person, rather than helping the body to heal itself through medicine; its advocates betray disdain for our humanity. If they are not stopped, the impact on our society will be disastrous. (Encounter Books, 2004, 219 pps., $25.95) |
People of all political and religious stripes should find it informative and thought-provoking.
