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"guidelines" intended to regulate
such research. But critics remain
skeptical that such unenforceable
guidelines will do much good. One·
outspoken opponent of such re–
search is Dr.
L.
Douglas DeNike.
He is concerned that the guidelines
permit continued experimentation
with so-called "crippled" forms of
E. Coli. "I fear that even 'crippled'
forms of this microbe might trans–
mit characteristics to ordinary E.
Coli if they were accidentally re–
leased," DeNike told
The Plain
Truth.
Other worried officials note that
the NIH guidelines do not have the
force of law. "At present the only
thing the government can do," la–
ments one scientist, "is cut off re–
search funds if they violate the
guidelines. But what about industry
where they want to work with these
bacteria on a massive commercial
scale?" "We're talking about the
prospects for the demise of bio–
sphere," says DeNike.
"This [research] is more hazardous
rhan rhe atom bomb,"
stresses Har–
vard biologist Dr. Ruth Hubbard.
"It could unleash 'super-bacteria'
that are resistant to drugs and
spread new types of disease world
wide." Adds Hubbard: "An experi–
menter could inhale or ingest sorne
of the bacteria and carry it out of
the Jab in his body - a common
occurrence in even the best labs
- and then pass the germ on to
people outside, introducing a new
disease to humanity."
Even the oi l-munching bacteria
might have disastrous kickbacks.
What happens, for example, if such
bacteria were to infest oil wells or
gas tanks? Would they consume the
oil before it could ever be used?
The Brink of Cosmoclde
"Of course such alarms have been
raised before," says Cavalieri. "The
A-bomb, nerve gas, biological war–
fare, the destruction of the strato–
spheric ozone !ayer by fluorocarbon
sprays - al! have been held up as
threats to human existence. But all
of these dangers can, in theory if not
in practice, be limited or controlled.
The threat of a new form of life is
more compelling, for once released,
it cannot be controlled, and its ef–
fects cannot be reversed. A new dis-
The
PLAIN TRUTH March 1977
The Biologyof the Future
What will the biology of tomorrow
be like? Sorne far-reaching break–
throughs are predicted:*
1980 -
Choose the sex of children
before they are conceived
1985-
Artificial heart implanta–
tions; brain linked to com–
'puter
1990-
Chernical synthesis of cheap
nutritious food ; cancercon–
quered
1995 -
First human clone; brain
transplants commonplace
2000 -
Transplantation of almost
a l! organs of the body
2005-
Alteration of the processes
ofaging
2010-
Widespread use of arti–
ficial insemination to pro-
ease may simply have to run its
course, attacking millions in its
path....
This research is the grearesr
threat ever ro our human existence."
Knowledge Aun Amok
"We have gone along for severa!
hundred years ·with the belief that
knowledge and the means for ac–
quiring knowledge are always bene–
ficia!," muses Sinsheimer. "The
situation that first led anybody to
question that assumption was the
atomic bomb. 1 think that a lot of
people wish there were a way to
forget all about nuclear physics but
there is not. For a while, many
people hoped that it was an anom–
aly. But now here comes another
one. How do you cope with this new
observation that sorne kinds of
knowledge and sorne kinds of tech–
nology can be very dangerous? .. .
"'Know the truth and the truth
will make you free' is a credo carved
on the walls and lintels of labora–
tories and libraries across the land,"
Sinsheimer observes. But he adds,
"We begin to see that the truth is
not enough, that the truth
is
neces–
sary but not sufficient, that scientific
inquiry, the revealer of truth, needs
to be coupled with wisdom if our
object is to advance the human con–
dition.... We need to recognize
that the great forces we now wield
might - just might - drive us too
duce genetically superior
otfspring
2015-
Fetuses grown in artificial
wombs
2020 -
Genetic engineering i n
humans by chemically
modify i ng t heir D NA
chains
2025
- In Utero
genetic manipula–
tion
2030-
Total mastery of human
genetics and heredity
2040 -
Suspended animation of
life
2050 -
Complete control of the
aging process; man-made
immortality
*Adapted in pari from
The Post·Physician
Era: Medicine in the 21st Cemun:.
written
by
J errold Max.men (1976) .
·
swiftly toward sorne unseen chasm."
Will the emerging science of
genet ic manipulation create the
same horrors that have resulted
from nuclear research? The tragic
truth is that man has partaken of
"the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil," but he simply does not
have the wisdom to rightly use the
technology he has invented.
"My people are destroyed for lack
of knowledge," God told the
prophet Hosea (Hosea 4:6). What
kind of knowledge is lacking? Cer–
tainly not scientific and technologi–
cal know ledge; but the godly
knowledge that would provide the
moral, ethical and spiri tual frame–
work to guide man's quest in his
understanding of the material uni–
verse.
Jesus Christ described a last gen–
eration when wars, famines and,
significantly enough,
pestilences,
would mark the beginning of a
time of great sorrow and tribulation
(Matt.
24:7,
8). Surely he referred to
our times when he stated: "And ex–
cept those days should be shortened,
there should be no flesh be saved
[alive] ..." (Matt.
24:22).
Only the intervention of Christ
will prevent global catastrophe and
ensure the survival of mankind.
Thankfully the most frightening as–
pects of the new biology may never
come to pass.
o
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