Science and Technology: A Rant

Ok so I know that no one is entirely interested in hearing one of the many rants of the girl with the shortest temper in the world, but this one has got to be said.

The current theme for English classes in the 12th grade is Science and Technology, with a specific focus on Genetic Engineering and the future of science. Now, if you were in the class, you would come to the immediate realization that the future of science includes an army of human clones, vegetables that bite back, and animals with the head of a dog, brain of a human, and strength of a great ape (also monocolored onesies, if I can trust the movies). Upon learning this last week, I realized that somewhere, somehow, wires have gotten crossed. What must have happened is that the secretary over in Duesseldorf was typing up the guidelines for English classes in my state and accidentally included the plot of the comic book he had been working on in his free time. If this isn't the case, then I am fearful for the future of Science in Germany.

So I'll leave you now, keeping in mind that impressionable young minds in Germany are being taught about our dreary scientific future from people who last took a science class up to 30 years ago, with a few quotes from our reading:

“The Pre-Designed Body”, published in 1971. (That's right folks, that's almost 40 years ago!)

“One of the more fantastic possibilities is that man will be able to make biological carbon copies of himself. Through a process known as 'cloning' it will be possible to grow from the nucleus of an adult cell a new organism that has the same genetic characteristics of the person contributing the cell nucleus...Cloning would make it possible for people to see themselves born anew, to fill the world with twins of themselves. Cloning would...provide us with solid empirical evidence to help us resolve..the ancient controversy over 'nature vs nurture' or 'heredity vs environment'...whole libraries of philosophical speculation could, by a single stroke, become irrelevant.”

“In the opinion of many of the world's leading scientists the clock is ticking for a 'biological Hiroshima'”

“We will be able to create sexual superathletes, girls with super-mammaries (and perhaps more or less than the standard two)...”

“In short, it is safe to say that, unless specific counter-measures are taken, if something can be done, someone, somewhere, will do it. The nature of what can and will be done exceeds anything that man is as yet psychologically or morally prepared to live with.”



“The First Test-Tube Baby”: A TIME article that describes the scene in the town where the mother-to-be lived. This one is much more recent and representative of current thought on scientific progress, published in 1978.

“Theologians—and more than a few prominent scientists—sounded warnings about its [the birth of the baby] disturbing moral, ethical and social implications.”

“Some thoughtful observers saw the work as still another ominous step toward further control and manipulation of basic life processes—comparable perhaps to the recently acquired ability of molecular biologists to rearrange and recombine genes of different creatures and even to create new life forms.”

Tomorrow I prepare for battle with two articles: “10 Ways Genetically Engineered Microbes Could Help Humanity” and “Why Should You be Scientifically Literate?”

At least I know that if I get non-GE tomatoes thrown in my face I can use my multiple super-mammaries to block them.