Welcome to
GENETIC CROSSROADS #22
July 11,
2002
Supporting responsible uses of human genetic
technologies
Opposing the new techno-eugenics
CONTENTS
II. Important New Articles and Op-Eds
III. Missed Message: Deeper Analysis of the President’s Bioethics Council Report
IV.
CGS News
1.
First Spanish Language Document
2.
Website: New Text on Politics
3.
New Voices: publications by liberal and progressive leaders,
authors, experts, and activists
I. World Watch Magazine Special Issue: "Beyond Cloning: The Risk of Rushing into Human Genetic Engineering"
The July-August World Watch is a special issue devoted to the challenges posed by the new human genetic technologies. World Watch is published by the Worldwatch Institute, which authors the well-known State of the World Report.
This special issue of World Watch is the most ambitious recent journalistic treatment of the new species-altering human genetic technologies. Articles include:
Brian Halweil and Dick Bell: "Beyond Cloning: The Larger Agenda of
Human Engineering"
Richard Hayes: "The Science and Politics of Genetically Modified
Humans"
http://www.genetics-and-society.org/resources/cgs/200207_worldwatch_hayes.html Pat Mooney: "Making Well People 'Better'"
Paul R. Billings: "A Medical Geneticist's View"
Nadine Gordimer: "A New Racism"
Sarah Sexton: "Deceptive Promises of Cures for Disease" Michael Dorsey: "The New Eugenics"
Vandana Shiva: "Biopirates and the Poor"
Judith Levine: "What Human Genetic Modification Means for
Women"
Francis Fukuyama: "In Defense of Nature, Human and
Non-Human"
Rosario Isasi: "The Human Rights Perspective"
Tom Athanasiou and Marcy Darnovsky: "The Genome as a Commons"
http://www.genetics-and-society.org/resources/cgs/200207_worldwatch_darnovsky.html Brian Halweil: "The War of Words and Images"
Bill
McKibben: "Why Environmentalists Should be Concerned"
The first half of the magazine is available online at: http://www.worldwatch.org/mag/ (registration required).
World Watch is promoting the issue and encouraging print and web publications to run reprints. For information on reprinting articles or on ordering extra issues please visit: http://www.worldwatch.org/about/reprint.html.
Los Angeles Times: Thomas Prugh, World Watch Senior
Editor, "New Genes, a New Human Nature -- and New Dangers" (July 2,
2002)
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-oe-prugh2jul02.story
Tikkun: Marcy Darnovsky, "Embryo Cloning and Beyond"
(July/August 2002)
http://www.genetics-and-society.org/resources/cgs/200207_tikkun_darnovsky.html
The Women’s Global Network for Reproductive Rights Newsletter (April 2002) includes several pieces on human cloning. Their coverage of the issue highlights the growing international feminist concern over the new genetic technologies.
Alejandra Rotana, an activist and professor in Brazil, "More Voices
Against Human Cloning: Paradigms of a New Feminism?"
http://www.klaever.nl/open_document.asp?id=137&site_id=157
A summary of and excerpts from CGS's first publication, The New
Technologies of Human Genetic Modification: A Threshold Challenge
for Humanity.
http://www.klaever.nl/open_document.asp?id=136&site_id=157
III. Missed Message: Deeper Analysis of the President’s Council on Bioethics Report
Most of today’s news coverage of the report on cloning prepared
by the President’s Council on Bioethics (http://www.bioethics.gov/) portrays a near-even
split between those members who want to proceed with research
cloning and those who want to ban it—in other words, an echo of the
split in the Senate. But reading the report itself reveals a more
nuanced and politically significant set of positions and
recommendations.
As (correctly) reported, 10 Council members
propose a 4-year moratorium on cloning research, while 7 members
propose that cloning research be allowed “without substantial
delay.” What most press reports have missed is that the proposal of
the 7 research cloning advocates clearly recognizes the dangers that
research cloning entails, and calls for strict regulatory controls.
These members—who include noted biotech and biomedical
researchers—write (all italics added):
“Unlike most of
the more permissive human cloning legislation recently considered by
Congress, [our] proposal takes seriously… hazards involved in
this research, and it proposes concrete steps to prevent or minimize
them.
“…we welcome regulatory guidelines and mechanisms,
devised in advance, regarding
cloning-for-biomedical-research…. And although we want now to
approve cloning-for-bio-medical-research, we agree that it shall
not go forward in the absence of appropriate regulations and
effective mechanisms for enforcing them."
They go on to
propose regulatory mechanisms that would:
“register, inventory, and track the fate of individual cloned
embryos
prohibit the shipping or sale of cloned embryo
license and conduct prior review of all research involving cloned
human embryos
set a definite time limit and developmental stage beyond which a
cloned human embryo may not be grown, either in vitro or in vivo
prohibit the transfer of a cloned human embryo into the womb (or
other gestational environment) of a human being or an animal (or
into an artificial equivalent of the same) for research purposes
provide strong penalties to deter unlicensed or impermissible
research
[protect]…any human egg donors
set rules for financial compensation for egg donation
establish other relevant measures designed to protect against the
exploitation of women.”
(See http://www.bioethics.gov/cloningreport/ ; Chapter
8, p.140-144.)
These research cloning advocates thus appear
not to support the unrestricted green light for research cloning
that is embodied in the Feinstein-Kennedy-Hatch Harkin legislation
as currently proposed. Their conclusions suggest a growing
recognition, even among those convinced of the possible medical
benefits of research cloning, that it should not be allowed until
strong regulations are in place.
1. First Spanish Language
Document
A Spanish translation of our introductory text,
The Threshold Challenge of the New Human Genetic
Technologies, is available on our website.
Las Nuevas Technologías de Modificación Genética Humana: Un
Umbral de Desafío para la Humanidad - Introducción al primer
informe publicado por CGS.
http://www.genetics-and-society.org/espanol/desafio.html
2. Website: New Text on Politics
New sections addressing the promotion of and opposition to
eugenic technologies are now available on our website.
http://www.genetics-and-society.org/analysis/index.html
3. New Voices: publications by liberal and progressive leaders, authors, experts, and activists.
We have compiled an extensive list of articles and books by
progressive authors exploring the challenges and potential dangers
arising from the new human genetic and reproductive technologies.
http://www.genetics-and-society.org/analysis/opposing/newvoices.html
More Information
Analysis:
Examine the social, cultural, and economic landscape
Perspectives:
Explore various communities' concerns regarding human genetic
technologies
Policies:
Read about existing and potential regulations
Technologies:
Learn the basic science and consider arguments for and against