Transhumanist Dreams and Dystopian Nightmares: The Promise and Peril of Genetic Engineering PDF
Preview Transhumanist Dreams and Dystopian Nightmares: The Promise and Peril of Genetic Engineering
transhumanist dreams and dystopian nightmares This page intentionally left blank Transhumanist i Dreams and Dystopian Nightmares The Promise and Peril of Genetic Engineering MAXWELL J. MEHLMAN The Johns Hopkins University Press Baltimore © 2012 The Johns Hopkins University Press All rights reserved. Published 2012 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 The Johns Hopkins University Press 2715 North Charles Street Baltimore, Maryland 21218-4363 www.press.jhu.edu Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Mehlman, Maxwell J. Transhumanist dreams and dystopian nightmares : the promise and peril of genetic engineering / Maxwell J. Mehlman. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4214-0669-5 (hbk. : acid-free paper) — ISBN 1-4214-0669-1 (hbk. : acid-free paper) — ISBN 978-1-4214-0727-2 (electronic) — ISBN 1-4214-0727-2 (electronic) 1. Genetic engineering—Social aspects. 2. Genetic engineering—Moral and ethical aspects. 3. Genetic engineering—Environmental aspects. I. Title. QH442.M44 2012 660.6'5—dc23 2012001949 A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. Special discounts are available for bulk purchases of this book. For more information, please contact Special Sales at 410-516-6936 or [email protected]. The Johns Hopkins University Press uses environmentally friendly book materials, including recycled text paper that is composed of at least 30 percent post-consumer waste, whenever possible. For my children’s children This page intentionally left blank contents Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 par t one: What Is to Come? 1 Visions of Heaven and Hell 11 2 Thinking about the Unthinkable 34 part two: The Hazards of Evolutionary Engineering 3 Physical Harm to Children 53 4 Psychosocial Harm to Children 71 5 Broader Consequences for Society 91 6 The End of the Human Lineage 112 7 Evolution by Nature or by Human Design? 132 part three: Managing Risk in Evolutionary Engineering 8 Protecting the Children 155 9 Preserving Societal Cohesion 192 10 Providing for Our Descendents 201 11 Safeguarding the Human Species 208 Epilogue 229 Notes 231 Index 267 vii This page intentionally left blank acknowledgments Support for the research on this book was provided by the Metanexus and Templeton Foundations under a grant from the Center for the Study of Religion and Confl ict, Arizona State University; by a grant to the cen- ter for Genetic Research Ethics and Law, Case Western Reserve University, by the Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications Program of the National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health (1 P50 HG03390-01); and by the Center for Health Law Studies at St. Louis University School of Law. The author also would like to thank Cory Schmidt and Kelsey Marand for their research assistance and Wendy Harris, Su- zanne Flinchbaugh, and Jeremy Horsefi eld for their excellent editing. ix
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