Science has come to the rescue ever since men needed support. From glasses to pacemakers, technology has made life easier and safer. But new trends like transhumanism and augmented men may turn science into a dangerous asset. We can wonder if limits to innovations should be set.
IWhen science makes the world change
1 Discovering
From Edward Jenner’s first vaccine in 1798 to Dolly, the first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell by a Scottish scientist in 1996, scientific breakthroughs opened up a lot of possibilities in biology and medicine. Thus men live longer.
2 Pushing the limits
Men are now replaced by robots or drones in hazardous jobs or perilous rescues. Exoskeletons revolutionise the industry and the army, enabling heavy loads to be carried.
Robots have become high-skilled surgeons. Scientists create cutting-edge prosthetics for amputees or physically-impaired people that can walk again. Bionic limbs can now be controlled by the patient’s thoughts.
South African-born American entrepreneur and engineer Elon Musk’s Neuralink project aims at merging humans with Artificial Intelligence to cure the after-effects of some diseases.
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Monkey Pong is Neuralink’s latest experiment. It shows a monkey with a brain-machine interface (BMI) playing the video game Pong with its mind.
IIScience is a double-edged tool
1 Going too far?
Genetically modified organisms are animals or plants whose structure has been changed by scientists to be produced more effectively. But danger is looming when these GMOs multiply, changing the very nature of biodiversity.
Autonomous cars are at the core of car innovations. This may go fast or too far as in case of an accident it is hard to say if the engineer, the car maker or the driver should be held responsible. Even legislation has no answer. Are we beyond limits of reasoning ?
2 Supervising science?
Innovations and economic growth lead the way towards a future where science seems limitless. But can scientists invent anything? Should research be more regulated and supervised? Ethics is now part of all science curriculum because scientists have a moral and ethical responsibility in carrying out an experiment or not.
key word
Ethics is based on moral principles that govern a person’s behaviour or how they conduct an activity.
Over the past decades the USA and England have been at the forefront of innovations in medicine and sciences, always keeping an eye on ethics. They have developed new law to answer the challenges presented by these scientific breakthroughs. The International Bioethics Committee (IBC), created in 1993, is a global forum for reflection in bioethics. It aims at ensuring respect for human dignity and freedom.
Cloning refers to techniques of copying genetic information. The cloning of the sheep Dolly opened up a lot of possibilities. But even if human cloning has been possible since the 2010s, it is unethical and remains illegal. Transhumanism appeals to more and more people who dream of eternal digital life. Would that be ethical?