The one that I find ethically interesting is trans-genetic animals, i.e. pigs producing organs that human recipients won't reject through the immune process. I can just see someone reprogramming a pig's DNA to produce a human kidney, liver, heart, etc. but screw up on the DNA controlling brain development. This could lead to the amusing situation of "Porky" offering very erudite ethical arguments concerning his right-to-life and continued use of his own internal orgins.
The technological power in biological systems is both frightening and amazing. Imagine building a machine that could do all of the things a common house fly can do? Soon we won't need to. All we'll need to do is reverse engineer how a fly's DNA works and then reprogram the thing to do our bidding. That's where it gets spooking: We'll have near instant access to a "technology" that has 3.5 bil
lion years of evolution behind it. Do we (the human race) have the collective wisdom for that sort of power? Surprisingly the answer maybe "Yes!". Despite having 20,000 warheads with hair fine triggers pointed at each other for over 40 years, we didn't nuke ourselves. Was this blind luck?
Gary
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Brave new world