The Bright Side of Biotechnology
The only way to discover the limits of the possible is
to go beyond them into the impossible.
— Arthur C. Clarke
Ridley Scott's excellent and influential 1982 film Blade
Runner -- based on a Philip K. Dick novel -- introduces us
to the Tyrel Corporation, a kind of bioengineering firm writ
insanely large. Tyrel manufactures robot animals as well as
humanoid Replicants, androids that equal or exceed human
capabilities and are used for "off-world labor." Slaves, in
other words. The film depicts one of cinema's great futuristic
dystopias, in which out-of-control technology has stripped
Earth of virtually all life forms and replaced them with
ersatz machines. Tyrel's Replicant motto: "More Human Than
Human."
Author Ramez Naam gives a nod to Blade Runner with
the title of his book, but his outlook on the future of
biotechnology is much sunnier. Naam suggests that the
intersection of machine and man is an inevitable and indeed
natural process in the evolution of our species. His
book explores the many scientific, social and ethical issues
surrounding what can be broadly termed as "biological
enhancement." This includes genetic engineering, stem-cell
research, cloning, performance-enhancing drugs and
human-machine integration.
For the reader appreciative of cogently investigated pop
science, this is fascinating stuff. As a scholarly statement,
More Than Human is sufficiently meaty -- Naam provides
thorough annotations and footnotes as he guides us through
various case studies. The writing style is friendly and clear,
and he populates the book with stories of real people -- the
scientists, doctors, researchers and patients at the event
horizon of biological enhancement technologies.
Take, for example, the case of Johnny Ray, a 53-year-old
patient who became paralyzed from the neck down following a
massive stroke, leaving him essentially unable to communicate.
One of Ray's doctors, neurologist Phil Kennedy, won US Food
and Drug Administration approval in 1998 to conduct a human
trial procedure in which wireless electrodes were attached
directly to the brain. After a period of recovery and
training, Ray was able to move the cursor on a computer
monitor simply by thinking about it, thereby enabling him to
communicate. Similar cases followed, and this nascent field of
biotechnology is flourishing today. Of the Johnny Ray case,
Naam writes:
Under Kennedy's guidance, Ray would think about
moving his left hand: up if he wanted the cursor to move up,
down if he wanted the cursor to move down, and so on. As he
imagined moving his hand, the electrode in his brain picked
up the signals of the few neurons near it and broadcast
those to a nearby computer. The computer in turn moved the
cursor. Something amazing was happening. A human was just
thinking about something and a computer was responding. It
was the stuff of science fiction.
This is typical of Naam's approach, passionate and rather
wide-eyed. Naam points out that there are a quarter million
paraplegics in the U.S. alone, and it's easy to get caught up
in his enthusiasm when a human-machine interface provides such
fantastic and unmitigated benefit.
The book is less convincing when it covers more complex
scenarios, such as the wide-open area of genetic engineering.
This is a particularly controversial topic these days, and
with good reason. Science and technology do not exist in a
vacuum, they are part of the fabric of our civilization and
intricately linked with social, legal, ethical and economic
concerns. Naam addresses this reality, but often frames his
arguments in terms that many will find far too optimistic.
Take for instance certain "gene therapy" treatments that have
been proven to extend the life span of laboratory mice (more
accurately put, these treatments slow the aging process.) Naam
suggests that these genetic experiments not only could be
applied to humans, but should be applied as soon as
they are proven safe and reliable.
Perhaps they should. But who, exactly, will determine when
such enhancements are indeed safe and reliable? You may have
noticed a few headlines of late concerning drugs being pulled
off the market. Many now openly question the efficacy of the
FDA -- or any government regulatory agency -- at curbing the
capitalist inclinations of the pharmaceutical industry. If
there's a huge demand for arthritis pain medications, imagine
the market for a pill that adds 30 years to your life. History
(and common sense) suggests such a medicine will have a market
-- regulated or not. Legal or not. Safe or not.
It's to Naam's credit that he raises these issues -- the
trouble is that he does not resolve them convincingly. There
are other examples throughout in the book of this basic
problem. Naam details instances of potentially awesome
biological enhancement, then runs them through a battery of
best-case scenarios in which corporations behave ethically,
governments serve efficiently, and society as a whole
functions with humane, progressive, enlightened self-interest.
Would that it were so. For readers who see specters of the
Tyrel corporation in headlines every day, Naam's relentlessly
optimistic take on the future of biotechnology is a tough pill
to swallow. That said, the book's final chapter, titled "Life
Without Limits," is compelling. Here Naam passionately and
intelligently argues his case in toto, and his vision
is so articulate, so attractive, that you may find yourself
persuaded. Technological progress is inevitable, and the
sci-fi scenarios put forth in the book are not that far off.
We will be dealing with these issues in our lifetime,
and Naam provides a fascinating -- and hopeful -- point of
view. Someone has to look on the bright side of things --
let's hope Naam's vision is prophetic. Can't hurt.
— 5 April 2005
