Here we go again!
Eugenics just does not want to go away
Among the many things artificial intelligence (AI) is enabling, although it gets less attention than the worries of AI models becoming conscious and our losing control of them, is widespread genetic engineering. This is potentially a revolution in gene editing. Although it promises to unlock transformative medical treatments, it also brings longstanding bioethical issues front and center.
Ever since James Watson and Francis Crick sequenced DNA, our genetic code, we have dreamed of biological engineering. Unfortunately - or fortunately - nature did not cooperate, as genetic features are most often the result of many genes working together, although as we shall see, that did not prevent some people from trying.
AI works best when it is tasked to understand ultra-complex patterns, which is why it is so powerful in unlocking our genome’s secrets. It could vastly increase the power of genetic screening.
As the attached article from The New Atlantis points out, there is also a rapidly developing new technique called in vitro gametogenesis (IVG) which can create egg and sperm cells from skin cells or other ordinary human cells. It has been successful in creating healthy offspring in mice, and although not yet tried in humans, it is expected to work there as well. This raises the possibility of creating large numbers of viable embryos. This, together with much better tools for predicting their traits from their genes, and you have, to quote The New Atlantis, “eugenics by other means.”
Far fetched? It may be happening sooner than we think. A recent report from the Center for Genetics and Society reports on a new company Bootstrap Bio that intends to commercialize the editing of human embryos, starting with a trial in Honduras which could potentially avoid US regulations. This, despite the widespread ban in many countries on editing the genomes of embryos, a ban which is fully supported by the scientific genetics community.
Plus, CGS says, MIT Technology Review reported that a person worth $10 billion was ready to fund a startup focused on gene-editing human embryos and is looking for scientists and bioinformatics to join his team.
Whether any of this is going to happen, of course, is open to speculation. But the effort is there.
Including by a person who got a start analyzing adult genomes to try to determine their risk of cancer, ADHD, and other “genetic” diseases. According to the attached article in the San Francisco Standard, he wants to bring this advanced genetic testing to embryos. For $25,000, he will help customers find a genetically egg or sperm donor, plus a surrogate, and eventually an embryo. He has found investors for his project, despite the fact that many scientists feel that testing for polygenic traits, which is what the program does, is a crapshoot.
All of this cries out for caution and regulation, as well as widespread public discussion as to what should be allowed. Among many other things, we need - and I know I am sounding like a broken record here - to greatly enhance the ability of our political bodies, Congress, the President’s office, and the Courts, to understand and deal with these complex issues.
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dysgenics!