Genetic engineering: science and social responsibility

Abstract

No recent scientific accomplishment has given rise to such wildly enthusiastic expectations – and apocalyptic warnings – as genetic engineering. Emerging from an esoteric area of molecular biology, genetic engineering – known in its early years mainly as recombinant DNA research and, now, as biotechnology or simply genesplicing – has opened up possibilities once relegated to science fiction. These include an essentially unlimited supply of previously scarce vaccines and hormones; the creation of protein–rich foodstuffs from waste products; plentiful new stores of “clean” energy from organic “biomass”; plants bioengineered to be self–fertilizing; animals genetically programmed with the traits of other species – the list is virtually endless. The ultimate and most controversial achievement, of course, is human genetic engineering – actually altering our own genetic makeup. The implications boggle the mind. Companies of all types are rushing to add specialized new facilities and personnel, and industry analysts spare few superlatives in describing biotechnology's prospects. According to one investment analyst, “We are sitting at the edge of a technological breakthrough that could be as important as electricity, splitting the atom, or going back to the invention of the wheel or discovery of fire.” Noted science writer Lewis Thomas called the current biological revolution “unquestionably the greatest upheaval of biology and medicine ever.” Even its critics describe gene–splicing in revolutionary terms.