Skeptics Fear 'Book of Life' Could Spell Death By Lyndsay Griffiths

LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists heralded a brave new world Monday but skeptics said a genetic breakthrough could usher in a sinister era of perfect people and death to the disabled.

``The further science goes, the further the worst case scenario goes,'' Steve Jenkins, a spokesman for the Church of England, told Reuters. ``I'm not anti-science but there is no way that God is now out of a job.''

He spoke after an international team of researchers said they had mapped 97 percent of the human genome -- the genetic makeup of the human body -- in a scientific accomplishment on a par with the discovery of penicillin or the lunar landing.

``This is the outstanding achievement not only of our lifetime but in terms of human history,'' said Dr Michael Dexter, whose Wellcome Trust funded the British arm of the project.

Carried out in 16 centers around the globe, the researchers have effectively whittled down the human body to a complex string of letters that should revolutionize the way doctors see the body and treat its shortfalls.

The potential benefits are huge: drugs tailor-made for individuals, predictive testing, improved understanding of disease along with gene therapy to put in-built wrongs to right.

Others fear the possible misuse of science in man's drive to create a perfect world and say few will benefit.

``It's the difference between using genetics to correct something that has gone wrong and using them to create something considered perfect,'' said Jenkins, who trained in science. ''The idea of designing humans from scratch along with the prospect of an enormous increase in abortion is not the world we want.''

While the scientists emphasized their so-called ``book of life'' was just the beginning of a long road ahead, doubters said it would benefit few and could turn out to be a giant step back to the sort of eugenics practiced in Nazi Germany.

BLOND OR BRUNETTE, MADAME?

``Mapping the human genome is a great human achievement,'' Richard Nicholson, editor of the Bulletin of Medical Ethics, said. ``Like climbing Mount Everest, it will benefit few people, leaving most untouched. But unlike climbing Mount Everest, it has the potential to damage large numbers of people.''

Designer babies could be created, flawed fetuses killed.

The stigma of being anything less than perfect could soar.

``Disabled people feel a responsibility to raise the alarm,'' said Agnes Fletcher of the Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation. ``'New hope' for disabled people is accompanied by the danger of disabled people and others experiencing increased discrimination in employment, insurance, healthcare provision and education.''

U.S. lawmakers have already raised the alarm about medical insurers screening out high-risk groups and employers passing over genetically flawed staff.

``Social policy must keep pace with science. The abuse of genetic information must be prevented,'' said New York Democrat Louise Slaughter, who is pushing for a bill to outlaw genetic discrimination.

Yet scientists say they are a long way from making sense of their new alphabet soup and putting it to practical use. They point out that the anatomy of the heart was worked out in 1543, while the first heart transplant did not come until 1967.

New Scientists Up To Old Tricks

Yet man has been dabbling in eugenics for centuries.

Plato's Republic depicts a society chasing self-improvement through selective breeding while references to eugenic ideals appear as far back as the Old Testament.

English statistician Francis Galton took it further in 1869 by proposing a system of arranged marriages between men of distinction and women of wealth to produce a gifted race.

Indeed it was Galton who coined the term ``eugenics,'' and the American Eugenics Society took up his baton in 1926 by proposing restrictions on immigrants from ``inferior'' stock, along with sterilization for the insane, retarded and epileptic.

The German Nazi party of the 1930s went to the wildest extremes, using eugenics to justify its attempted extermination of European Jews and other groups of people.

(I was viewing the decoding of the human genome structure as being one of great scientific advancement...and of giving hope to thousands of people suffering from cancer and other gene related disorders. There is an evil side to everything I guess..and I'm sure there really are people who view this as an opportunity to create a master race, or elimanate a fetus that is imperfect. Any thoughts? -k)

-- What do you Think? (DesignerGenes@adelphia.net), June 27, 2000

Answers

I personally prefer Wranglers, them designer jeans are too fancy for country boys.

-Greybear

-- Got Bleach?

-- Greybear (olgreybear@home.com), June 30, 2000.

Lol, GB!

Kritter, wisdom is a rare jewel, and ever more needed.

So the atomic threat is lessened and the genetic threat begins?

-- Tricia the Canuck (jayles@telusplanet.net), July 01, 2000.

Hey, all the great horror movies of my youth began with some genetic experiment gone awry, or some genetic mutation caused by nuclear residue. Godzilla, It, Them, That giant crawling Eyeball (whatever that was called, or was that "It"?), The Blob, Mothra and Ghidhra, Those really big Ants, That 50ft tall woman in Go-Go boots..all that scary stuff...genetic boogie men...all of them. One tiny genetic boo-boo could cause something really big and bizarre to result. Do we have a military plan to fight a Godzilla? Huh, do we? Thought not.

-- kritter (kritter@adelphia.net), July 01, 2000.

Kritter-

Don't forget Night of the Lepus.

-- Aunt Bee (Aunt__Bee@hotmail.com), July 01, 2000.

What was night of the lepus? I must have missed it! What genetic freak emerged from THAT classic?

-- kritter (kritter@adelphia.net), July 02, 2000.

krit-

Garganutan RABBITS caused by radiation. Done in the late 50's and badly done. Catch it if you can. It's a riot!

D

-- Aunt Bee (Aunt__Bee@hotmail.com), July 02, 2000.

This sort of thing is not as new as you would think. We have been using genetically modified poeple for years. I won't go into how far but I will say that the "average" human uses close to 3% of his/her brain's capacity (not the generous 10% that is widely accepted) and that this has traditionally served us just fine.

Certain "experiments" have been used in agent training and, in some cases, a "super" soldier breed has been implimented. I have not worked in this department, but I know decompartmentalized information concerning it for use in our programs - when it becomes necessary for us to know.

For the time being, it is not something to be feared. Think about it. If the people responsible for these projects let this out, there would be no advantage to its development. I can asssure you that it will not become practical for civilian uses while any of us are alive. This sort of thing is very old indeed.

-- Jimmy (jimmjamm26@hotmail.com), January 26, 2003.