Nаture and human in the age of biotechnologies

Abstract

The rapid development of biotechnology in recent decades has brought about the debate over the consequences of genetic modification of living organisms. Opposing views are particularly pronounced when it comes to the possibilities of biotechnological human enhancement. Margaret Atwood?s dystopian novel Oryx and Crake shows the final outcome of a development trend that has existed since the emergence of modern society - a combination of science, technology and capitalism supported by the ideology of progress. The paper deals with the problem of boundaries between natural/unnatural, human/animal in the future world which turned into ?one vast uncontrolled experiment? by the application of biotechnologies. Based on the analysis of the Atwood`s novel, the paper aims to present arguments for and against genetic engineering and human enhancement. Two problems are analyzed: what is natural and what is human uniqueness. The problem of the human in the novel is shown on several levels: animal and human hybrids, the posthuman people and former human. Atwood shows that the arguments in defense of nature are powerless against the logic of profit and deep-rooted human domination over nature. When it comes to man, the uniqueness of human nature is disrupted by reducing the man to the object of study of natural sciences which makes social, cultural and emotional characteristics of man unnecessary and obsolete. If there is no idea of the uniqueness of life and of human nature, it is difficult to answer the question - ?how much is too much, how far is too far? when we interfere with nature, life and human.