What Does the future Hold?

Imagine a world free of genetic diseases, imagine the elimination of cancers which are mostly passed by the ancestors, imagine individualized early warning mechanisms for the health hazards of every individual. These developments are the “holy grail” of the specific branch of medicine which is focused on the genetic research.

It all started with the famous pea experiments of the European scientist Gregor Mendel, culminating with the decoding of the human genome through the collective scientific endeavor named “Human Genome Project” (1990 – 2003). In the 21st century, the scientists are making substantial breakthroughs which lead to personalized diagnosis, individualized drugs based on the genetic analysis of the patients (the whole new branch of science called pharmacogenomics) and gene – editing, with the utilization of the Crispr method.

However, there are prevailing ethical issues connected with the genetics. The initial positive developments in genetics can easily deteriorate in a Huxleyan or Orwellian future of genetically manipulated children, leading to predestined inequality, authoritarianism, clone armies or police forces, baby factories instead of families, copywriting and patenting the human embryos. As in every other development of medicine, the breakthroughs are initially very expensive, affordable only to a handful of the richest individuals around the globe. But this time the consequences can be devastating if the richest persons can genetically modify their babies into superhumans, discriminating the rest of the humanity. The science has manipulated the aquarium fishes, by designing the GloFish, a genetically modified goldfish which glows in the dark. I dare not think of glowing children, winged persons or criminal networks breeding humans for organ harvesting.

Today, genetically modified food already exists, becoming a prevailing method of food production (plants like soybean, corn, tomatoes, apples, mango, and since 2015 also animals like the genetically modified salmon). But the controversy about the GMO food is still ongoing and far from concluded.

Given the ethical and practical danger involved in the genetic science, the humanity needs to continue the scientific research, but it should also design a very strong regulatory framework and global institutions to sanction any unethical use of the DNA.