Genetics: modifying genes promise healthier, more rewarding lives

By Dick Pelletier

      

    What if you could be smarter, stronger, and have a better memory just by taking a pill? What if you could make your body completely disease-free and halt or even reverse the aging process?

    Though these questions sound like the stuff of dreams, scientists are learning to unravel our genetic mysteries and understand how DNA controls our lives. Most health problems that afflict us today; cancer, diabetes, heart disease, obesity and some mental disorders, are the result of a clash between genes we developed early on as a species and today's modern environment.

    Our ancestors lived when food was scarce. They were always searching for hard-to-come-by calories and would store them in their body for future use. Today we have too much food, but our genes keep telling us to eat; we never seem to have enough. Changing a few genes could help us eat only when necessary, and could even instill selective tastes for healthier foods.

    Imagine if you never felt hungry unless your body required nutrition, and you craved fresh vegetables and other healthy foods; and felt a strong dislike for sugary, fat 'junk' foods. Say goodbye to obesity, diabetes, and other ills caused by bad diets.

    We could do the same with sunlight and vitamin D. Many suffer because they live on the wrong part of the planet. Early humans in Africa had dark skin to block radiation. Those further from the equator had lighter skin, allowing more radiation to penetrate the skin and produce vitamin D, which helps prevent cancer, osteoporosis and other disorders. Gene changes could alter our bodies to better fit where we live.

    Genes not only show predisposition for disease, they also create tastes and aptitudes, like curiosity, ambition, and empathy – traits that control who we become in life. In a recent New York Times article, cognitive scientist Steven Pinker predicted that; "One day we will identify genes that incline a person to being nasty or nice, an egghead or a doer, a sad sack or a blithe spirit."

    Most people approve genetic procedures in children and adults, but when it comes to changing genes in embryos, some say we're playing God. Conservative ethicists warn that this could lead to 'designer babies' with desirable traits involving height, intelligence and skin color. Proponents however, believe that this wonder science will eliminate nearly every disease. All bad genes could be replaced by good genes.

    Manchester University's John Harris believes that as parents, we are morally obliged to improve life for our children and ourselves. Society devotes so much energy towards saving lives, which, in reality, is simply postponing death, he says. If it's OK to save lives, Harris reasons; then it should also be OK to postpone death by eliminating diseases that can kill us.

    For Harris, having the ability to improve our species but refusing to do so, makes little sense. He has a difficult time understanding why some people are so insistent that we shouldn't try to improve human evolution. He adds, "Can you imagine our ape ancestors getting together and saying, 'this is pretty good, guys. Let's stop it right here!' That's the equivalent of what some people say today."

    As genetics and molecular biology become more of a game-changing science, the following healthcare procedures could become routine during the 2020s:

    1. Reengineer taste buds to make healthy foods enjoyable, unhealthy ones undesirable
    2. Alter neurons to strengthen desires that perk up interpersonal relationships
    3. Reprogram cells to rejuvenate aging and worn body parts in older adults
    4. Sharpen senses to provide superhuman eyesight, hearing, touch, and precognition abilities

    Gene modifications promise to change our lives beyond our wildest expectations. Cal Tech Professor and Nobel Laureate David Baltimore says, "Eventually gene therapies will become commonplace. This amazing technology will help us decide who we want to be as conscious beings."

    Will healthcare advance like this? Though scientists have yet to unravel most of our genetic mysteries, new discoveries are made daily. The question is not, will healthcare advance like this, but when.

    This article appeared in various print publications and on-line blogs. Comments always welcome.