My grandfather is 95. In his lifetime, we've gone from airplane flights lasting a few minutes to almost a million flights per year out of a single major airport (O'hare). At the same time, we're still basically the same people who used to smash each other over the heads with sticks and rocks.

Technology is mostly neutral. Just about any technology you can name can be used for good or bad purposes. For example, the same basic technology that allows us to create new vaccines to fight diseases can also be used to create new diseases, as in germ warfare. You can't have one without risking the other. As another example, the technology developed to lob nuclear warheads thousands of miles also allowed us to launch spacecraft. As but one subexample, when was the last time a hurricane hit us without warning? Weather satellites have made that virtually impossible, saving countless lives.

That being the case, do we give up a technology (if such a thing is possible) because it can have bad applications? I hardly think so. With all its potential hazards, DNA technology also has the potential to cure a great deal of human suffering. I read years ago that some 400 genetic diseases are caused by a single incorrect protein sequence produced by a person's DNA. We're on the cust of being able to repair such errors, with actual clinical trials underway.

No easy answers here. I guess all we can do is be alert. The world needs more lerts.