Biotech Century Review: Part 2

A couple of items struck me as particularly significant in the morning session of the Biotech Century: Facing Our Future Conference in Phoenix this past Saturday. One is the realization that the rapid advancements in technology that are occurring presently are coming at a very dangerous time in our history, that is while ethical standards are eroding. This creates an almost irresistible momentum towards attempting whatever is possible, without seriously considering whether the possibility should be attempted. Dr. Fred Chay from Phoenix Seminary emphasized that without a solid and reliable ethical standard there is nowhere to which an appeal can be made. If many scientific elitists had their way any ethical standards that impeded their ambitions or funding would be jettisoned.

The second point is related. It revolves around the worrisome trend that humans, particularly those at the beginning and end of life, are becoming commodities. They are being assigned value based on whether they are useful to someone else rather than having inherent worth and the self evident and unalienable rights enumerated in the Declaration of Independence. Paraphrasing Nikolas Nikas of the Bioethics Defense Fund, it is particularly hazardous for a weaker individual to be “useful” to more powerful individuals. Again, without a solid ethical foundation sacrificing the disabled, mentally ill, and other more vulnerable citizens “for the greater good” will become more palatable. Further, these trends will become harder and harder to reverse as they are embedded in the bedrock of the economy. A situation not unlike slavery in the early 19th century.