On the Power of Man: Position Paper on Synthetic Biology
On the power of man: A position paper on synthetic biology
BBC Horizon’s documentary “Playing God” has given its viewers a glimpse on the technological advances of the field Synthetic Biology, a field that dwells on the so-called artificial life. Like what almost all the field of science has been brought about, synthetic biology’s aim is to be of benefit to the human kind—to serve our dominant race for scientific and economic prosperity. In itself, however, ethical issues are bugging this field in its the inclination on the proliferation of synthetic life. The major questions that bug this issue is that, is this a celebration of the human potential, thus acceptable?
Whether life is an abstract term or not, we, as part of its circle, are all concerned on this whole idea that we live—we have life. We claim that we are in a journey full of the mystery of our being, full of queries on our existence, brought about by our interaction with the people around us and the environment we live in. However obscure our philosophical claims are, life is more or less a mere socially constructed term, that in itself, it is merely describing an existence of a moving, breathing, reproducing, and in our case, thinking entity. Life is a precious gift for most of us that to kill another human being is a sin to the human race, or more so, to God among theists. But to kill a cow for food seeks no justice since this is the so-called norms among us, humans. This is the same as to bear a child, which is considered as a gift in a pro-life perspective and, for argument’s sake, a must for survival. But what about the idea of creating another living creature in vitro?
The human potential has been tested for several decades. For centuries, our kind dwelled on seeking answers to our questions which has brought forth myriad of discoveries and inventions that improved the living of every individual on earth. The process for the good of mankind, however, has ceased the
BBC Horizon’s documentary “Playing God” has given its viewers a glimpse on the technological advances of the field Synthetic Biology, a field that dwells on the so-called artificial life. Like what almost all the field of science has been brought about, synthetic biology’s aim is to be of benefit to the human kind—to serve our dominant race for scientific and economic prosperity. In itself, however, ethical issues are bugging this field in its the inclination on the proliferation of synthetic life. The major questions that bug this issue is that, is this a celebration of the human potential, thus acceptable?
Whether life is an abstract term or not, we, as part of its circle, are all concerned on this whole idea that we live—we have life. We claim that we are in a journey full of the mystery of our being, full of queries on our existence, brought about by our interaction with the people around us and the environment we live in. However obscure our philosophical claims are, life is more or less a mere socially constructed term, that in itself, it is merely describing an existence of a moving, breathing, reproducing, and in our case, thinking entity. Life is a precious gift for most of us that to kill another human being is a sin to the human race, or more so, to God among theists. But to kill a cow for food seeks no justice since this is the so-called norms among us, humans. This is the same as to bear a child, which is considered as a gift in a pro-life perspective and, for argument’s sake, a must for survival. But what about the idea of creating another living creature in vitro?
The human potential has been tested for several decades. For centuries, our kind dwelled on seeking answers to our questions which has brought forth myriad of discoveries and inventions that improved the living of every individual on earth. The process for the good of mankind, however, has ceased the