Stem Cells, Biotechnology, and Human Rights: Implications for a Posthuman Future

.. the final stage is come when man by eugenics, by prenatal conditioning, and by an education and propaganda based on perfect applied psychology, has obtained full control over himself. Human nature will be the last part of nature to surrender to man. --C. S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man This sudden shift from a belief in Nurture, in the form of social conditioning, to Nature, in the form of genetics and brain physiology is the great intellectual event, to borrow Nietzsche's term, of the late twentieth century. --Tom Wolfe, Hooking Up I begin with passages from this unlikely pair of authors because, although they represent somewhat At different times, differ in temperament, and differ extravagantly in personal style, they share an imaginative capacity to envision the possible consequences of modern technology. The technology that occasioned Lewis's reflections--"the aeroplane, the wireless, and the contraceptive"--may now seem quaint, but the warning he sounded about turning humans into artifacts was eerily prescient. Similarly, although he does not directly take up stem cell research, Tom Wolfe's reflections on brain imaging technology, neuropharmacology, and genomics are worth noting in relation to the future of stem cell research. In his inimitable way, Wolfe summarizes one view of the implications of this technology in the title of the essay from which the above passage comes. "Sorry," he says, "but your soul just died." The point of beginning with Lewis and Wolfe is not that I share their dire predictions about the fate to which they believe technology propels us; instead, I begin with these writers because they invite us to take an expansive view of technology. I believe that a broader perspective is needed in the ongoing public debate over stem cell research and that such a perspective is in fact beginning to emerge. (1) This is not to say that the traditional analysis that has framed much of the debate--analysis of autonomy, informed consent, and commodification, for example--is unhelpful; far from it. Nevertheless, much of the debate about stem cell research has focused on the enormously divisive issue of embryo status. Indeed, the debate about stem cell research seems almost choreographed, the steps all too familiar from the dance of abortion politics. The upshot is that much of the stem cell debate has been too narrowly focused and is repetitive and rigid. (2) For that reason, I urge that we consider stem cell research together with other forms of biogenetic research and therapy. Among other things, shifting the flame of reference in this way would require us to attend much more carefully to issues raised by adult stem cell work. Thus, instead of beginning with a question about embryo status, let us start with a question that has not typically been asked: Is adult stem cell work as unproblematic as it is often assumed to be? Francis Collins's testimony before the President's Council on Bioethics in December 2002 suggests why this may be a productive question. Collins was asked to speak about "genetic enhancements: current and future prospects," and what he said about pre-implantation genetic screening is instructive. He noted that we are now able to screen both gametes and embryos, but because gamete screening is currently limited to sorting sperm for sex selection, he did not discuss it at length. He did, however, offer an interesting observation. Focusing on gametes, he says, is useful because it "isolates you away from some of the other compelling arguments about moral status of the embryo and allows a sort of cleaner discussion about what are the social goods or evils associated with broad alterations in the sex ratio and inequities in access to that technology." (3) In other words, the ethical issues raised by pre-implantation genetic screening are not limited to those brought about by the destruction of embryos required by PGD; indeed, screening gametes also raises serious moral issues, ones that might be eclipsed if we focus exclusively on embryos. …