Long before we were told there aren t enough genes to support the genetic determinist view, many scientists have concluded that there are no simplistic explanations for diseases in terms of single genes, because the action of each gene is modified and affected by many other genes. The connection between genes and disease becomes all the more tenuous when it comes to conditions such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, schizophrenia, intelligence, alcohol abuse and criminal behaviour, where environmental and social factors increasingly predominate. Craig Venter s Celera has identified over 4 million single nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNPs variants of genes that differ by a single base. Each person is genetically unique, except for identical twins at the beginning of development, before they can accumulate genetic mutations independently. On the contrary, there have been deaths and numerous adverse events, the causes of which remain largely unknown.
Many hazards are already evident from existing scientific findings.
These include immune reactions to GM constructs and creation of new viruses due to recombination between artificial gene therapy vectors and dormant viruses in the genome. Nevertheless, arch genetic determinists and other prominent scientists as well as bioethicists are advocating human germline gene therapy and human cloning. They see the creation of a gene-rich class of human beings to be inevitable due to the free reign of the global marketplace. The rich will pay to genetically enhance their offspring, in the same way that they will pay for expensive private education. Social inequity can thereby be translated into genetic inequity and vice versa.