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Many proponents of human genetic redesign see it as one element of a more general "post-biological" project. They look forward to the day when technology will transform and reconfigure all aspects of the natural world—plants, animals, humans, and ecosystems.

Some proponents of this vision, such as James Watson of double-helix fame and Gregory Stock of UCLA , are vocally dismissive of environmentalist values. (For quotes, see [ Overview >> Key Quotes >> Advocates of Species-Altering Technologies ].)

Environmental leaders have begun speaking out on the threats posed by human cloning and inheritable genetic modification. In articles, speeches, and testimony before Congress, they cite as the basis of their concerns core environmentalist principles such as respect for nature and the precautionary principle.

Environmentalists bring to the politics of the new eugenics their long experience of the need for responsible social governance of technological innovation. The many important international environmental treaties, such as the Montreal Protocol on the Ozone Layer, might serve as models for governance of the new human genetic technologies.

It is difficult to see how a world that accepts the production of children by cloning or with redesigned genes will long be able to maintain, much less deepen, any sense of respect for the rest of the natural world.


Related Articles

Carl Pope (Sierra Club Executive Director), "Between Scylla and Charybdis: Reproductive Freedom After September 11," Keynote Address to the Annual Convention of the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League (November 2001)
Resources >> Items >> "Between Scylla and Charybdis: Reproductive Freedom After September 11"

Richard Hayes, "The Quiet Campaign for Genetically Engineered Humans," Earth Island Journal (Vol. 16, No. 1, Spring 2001)
Resources >> CGS >> "The Quiet Campaign for Genetically Engineered Humans"

The World Watch special issue, "Beyond Cloning," includes pieces by CGS executive director Richard Hayes and associate executive director Marcy Darnovsky. The first half of the issue can be downloaded at: http://www.worldwatch.org/mag/ , and the complete French translation is at http://www.delaplanete.org/articles/no_4/archive_4.html.

By environmentalist Bill McKibben:


Off-Site Links

Sally Deneen, "Designer People," E Magazine (Vol. 12, No. 1, January/February2001)
http://www.emagazine.com/january-february_2001/0101feat1.html

Rachel Massey, "Engineering Humans," Rachel's Environment & Health News (March 15 and 29, 2001)
http://www.rachel.org/bulletin/index.cfm?issue_ID=1966
http://www.rachel.org/bulletin/bulletin.cfm?Issue_ID=1976

Friends of the Earth Campaign to Stop Cloning
http://www.foe.org/stopcloning/index.html

Andrew Kimbrell (ICTA Executive Director), Testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on action to stop human cloning (February 5, 2002)
http://www.icta.org/
http://www.icta.org/Testimony.doc (MS Word document)

The Center for Ethics and Toxics (CETOS) - includes pages on human genetic biotechnology
http://www.cetos.org/hubio.html

The Committee on Women, Population, and the Environment (CWPE) is a multi-racial alliance of feminist activists, health practitioners and scholars. They have been actively involved in the critique of the use of PGD for sex selection. The committee has also maintained a commitment to critical engagement with other genetic and reproductive technologies.
http://www.cwpe.org/


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