The UK’s plan to sequence every newborn’s genome promises better health but risks reviving the logic of eugenics in a world of eroding trust and scarce resources.
UK-NHS Has an OPT OUT policy regarding Selling Personal Health Data to whom ever is paying ,,,, WHO discussed Personalised vaccines according to DNA ,,,, I’m under the impression that Bill Gates Owns a Patent on some genomes, Who own YOURE body !
I’d rather die unknowingly than spend my entire life in fear of the day I’ll be fighting against it. There’s a peace in not knowing everything. Maybe that comes from my faith. I don’t need to know it all and I don’t want to. I wasn’t created for this.
That first paragraph sent shivers through me. How close are we to creating a human clone for every privileged person, to be harvested for spare parts? Kasuo Ishiguro went there in ”Never Let Me Go”. It felt impossible at the time. I’m not sure it does now.
The UK’s plan to sequence every newborn’s genome has a much more immediate use - it will identify best-match organ donors. No cloning required.
Also note that in UK a person already has to opt-out of having their organs harvested "at death", bearing in mind that many of those organs are only useful when harvested as living tissue.
A verse from "Epitaph" by King Crimson; a potent warning that rings true today more than ever.
We are straying, or being driven away from our nature and our purpose and place in this topsy turvy world.
After millions of years of evolution we, as a species, have managed to dominate and control almost anything that would insure survival and prosperity, and yet we are on the brink of a devastating collapse that could reduce us to a harrowing dystopian future, devoid of freedom, privacy, accountability, and our most precious attributes.
History is repeating itself but maybe for the last time... Because we can choose to ignore our very nature and place in the universe, through ignorance, blindness, ego, selfishness, arrogance, and misplaced trust. We are so caught up in our collective illusions of grandeur that we forgot that we are only mortal, not Gods, not controllers, of the web of life.
In our microbiome are billions of lifeforms integrated into our marvelous billion year old interdependent system created by "the Creator". Without these microscopic entities, we will die as they are essential to us and we, to them. They connect us to the web of life and allow us to communicate and adapt with all life.
That's why we can't keep poisoning, manipulating and overriding our place and purpose in this universe. We were meant to be part of nature, and stewards of the web of life, and not controllers that dominate all life.
As a species, we are too high and mighty, too successful at domination and control, and too immature for our own good and the planet's good.
Yes I agree that digital eugenics will repeat history. Because we have learned so much from history and are a kinder and wiser generation than we were previously. 😳
Your questions above are very insightful. The medical/insurance apparatus will certainly use our information against us, with many shiny promises to go along with the program. This week. Next week there will be a new fad. Maybe freckled skin and glow in the dark teeth will come back into vogue when your newly designed test tube child turns 35. Next up: Erase your ethnic genome while leaving what’s considered “pure” in place.
That’s just the beginning though, because there are unimaginable profits within reach of multinational corporations. Then there are the tech bros who don’t even need the money, are giving money away, but have wildly inflated egos and power. They are only human with human motivation. I don’t even try to read up on the latest manifesto from, say, Bill G. because people change and nobody’s perfect. As we all have experienced, when humans are in control of themselves there are no absolutes. Our Lord Jesus is the only absolute.
This is a hard one for me. I can see some really good benefits.
There are many genetically linked diseases that could be eliminated or at least minimized in their impact. If you have the ability to know beforehand, would you want to have children with someone who would have a huge chance of having lifelong health problems or very short lifespan?
We all subscribe to eugenics at some level. Nobody searches out the ugliest and dumbest people they can find to have children with. Nobody actively tries to conceive children with disabilities. They just make the best of the situation when it comes about.
Of course it is fraught with ethical dilemmas. What happens when the decisions are in conflict between individuals, families, and society at large? Look at how China's One Child policy worked out for female children. What happens when they can screen for behavioral traits?
It is always a problem when knowledge comes about. That doesn't mean that we should revere ignorance as some type of virtue.
UK-NHS Has an OPT OUT policy regarding Selling Personal Health Data to whom ever is paying ,,,, WHO discussed Personalised vaccines according to DNA ,,,, I’m under the impression that Bill Gates Owns a Patent on some genomes, Who own YOURE body !
I’d rather die unknowingly than spend my entire life in fear of the day I’ll be fighting against it. There’s a peace in not knowing everything. Maybe that comes from my faith. I don’t need to know it all and I don’t want to. I wasn’t created for this.
That first paragraph sent shivers through me. How close are we to creating a human clone for every privileged person, to be harvested for spare parts? Kasuo Ishiguro went there in ”Never Let Me Go”. It felt impossible at the time. I’m not sure it does now.
The UK’s plan to sequence every newborn’s genome has a much more immediate use - it will identify best-match organ donors. No cloning required.
Also note that in UK a person already has to opt-out of having their organs harvested "at death", bearing in mind that many of those organs are only useful when harvested as living tissue.
"Knowledge is a deadly friend
If no one makes the rules,
The fate of all mankind I fear
Is in the hands of Fools...
A verse from "Epitaph" by King Crimson; a potent warning that rings true today more than ever.
We are straying, or being driven away from our nature and our purpose and place in this topsy turvy world.
After millions of years of evolution we, as a species, have managed to dominate and control almost anything that would insure survival and prosperity, and yet we are on the brink of a devastating collapse that could reduce us to a harrowing dystopian future, devoid of freedom, privacy, accountability, and our most precious attributes.
History is repeating itself but maybe for the last time... Because we can choose to ignore our very nature and place in the universe, through ignorance, blindness, ego, selfishness, arrogance, and misplaced trust. We are so caught up in our collective illusions of grandeur that we forgot that we are only mortal, not Gods, not controllers, of the web of life.
In our microbiome are billions of lifeforms integrated into our marvelous billion year old interdependent system created by "the Creator". Without these microscopic entities, we will die as they are essential to us and we, to them. They connect us to the web of life and allow us to communicate and adapt with all life.
That's why we can't keep poisoning, manipulating and overriding our place and purpose in this universe. We were meant to be part of nature, and stewards of the web of life, and not controllers that dominate all life.
As a species, we are too high and mighty, too successful at domination and control, and too immature for our own good and the planet's good.
Yes I agree that digital eugenics will repeat history. Because we have learned so much from history and are a kinder and wiser generation than we were previously. 😳
Your questions above are very insightful. The medical/insurance apparatus will certainly use our information against us, with many shiny promises to go along with the program. This week. Next week there will be a new fad. Maybe freckled skin and glow in the dark teeth will come back into vogue when your newly designed test tube child turns 35. Next up: Erase your ethnic genome while leaving what’s considered “pure” in place.
That’s just the beginning though, because there are unimaginable profits within reach of multinational corporations. Then there are the tech bros who don’t even need the money, are giving money away, but have wildly inflated egos and power. They are only human with human motivation. I don’t even try to read up on the latest manifesto from, say, Bill G. because people change and nobody’s perfect. As we all have experienced, when humans are in control of themselves there are no absolutes. Our Lord Jesus is the only absolute.
I can totally foresee a day soon when babies will be implanted with a data port that can be read, similar to the OBD port in your car.
Everything is “modelled” with digital twins these days….cities, states…..countries all trying for see and control the future.
What was that line from 1984?
“ Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past,"
This is a hard one for me. I can see some really good benefits.
There are many genetically linked diseases that could be eliminated or at least minimized in their impact. If you have the ability to know beforehand, would you want to have children with someone who would have a huge chance of having lifelong health problems or very short lifespan?
We all subscribe to eugenics at some level. Nobody searches out the ugliest and dumbest people they can find to have children with. Nobody actively tries to conceive children with disabilities. They just make the best of the situation when it comes about.
Of course it is fraught with ethical dilemmas. What happens when the decisions are in conflict between individuals, families, and society at large? Look at how China's One Child policy worked out for female children. What happens when they can screen for behavioral traits?
It is always a problem when knowledge comes about. That doesn't mean that we should revere ignorance as some type of virtue.