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Op-Ed: Synthetic embryos grown by stem cells only – No people required

This is a true life-changing technology. It can rewrite humanity and the “terms of life” from the ground up.

Irony of ironies – Just after the inexcusable SCOTUS atrocity against women’s rights snf the First Amendment, along comes a whole new ballgame. Scientists at the Weissman Institute of Science have created functional synthetic embryos

These synthetic embryos are based on stem cell technologies, and were literally created in a dish. This is a first step in a lot of directions for reproductive science and opens the doors for synthetically made organs and tissues.

Synthetic embryos have a long lineage in terms of both ideas and technologies. The famous book Brave New World is based on technologies like this. It’s also been the stuff of horror stories, mass-produced hordes threatening the world.

The likely outcome of this tech will be different. The ability to produce organs and tissues alone is exceptionally valuable in medical and humanistic terms. Associated technologies like 3D printed tissue are already on the market. This new capacity to produce practically any kind of tissue on demand is a massive boost.

Important – This technology is not at the “get up and go” stage, and won’t be for a while. It is, however, clearly a major stream for future biotech. It will probably have ramifications for aging, genetic dysfunction conditions, and much more.  

Ideologically clear out of the ballpark

There’s another side to this tech which leaves the ideological zealots high and dry. These embryos don’t even have or need parents. They didn’t come from people. They’re synthesized from stem cells. Tough luck, maniacs.

What about parents, you ask? They’re not even theoretically part of the process unless someone brings a synthetic embryo to maturity as a human. That won’t be happening any time soon. It’ll be interesting to see if and how so many irresponsible people able to ignore the rights of others suddenly start demanding responsibility and accountability.

Future questions

It’s inevitable that the future of this tech will be the unavoidable next topic for debate. In theory, we’re talking about a massively beneficial range of technologies and outcomes. There currently aren’t any issues. What’s likely is that people and money will create issues, like the more sci-fi scenarios:

  • What if this tech gets priced out of accessibility, like so many other things?
  • How much can “proprietary interest” drive up prices?
  • Patient’s rights vs intellectual property rights – Can someone “own” someone else’s organs? (Dumber ideas about ownership abound in IP right now.)
  • Can this tech be used to prevent and counteract terminal conditions?
  • Can you enforce necessary medical safeguards across this very wide spectrum?
  • What can go wrong?
  • How do you prevent that?
  • Where does genetic engineering fit in with this tech?

Let’s move on to some of the more excruciatingly hackneyed obvious scenarios about synthetic humans. This is the obvious extreme, way outside current tech, but it’s a recurring theme:  

  • What if synthetic people became the norm? Given the nosediving state of human fertility  and aging populations at the moment, it’s not quite unthinkable.
  • Would you have “neurologically non-divergent” people as the standard?
  • Or maybe you could have “designer people”?  
  • What about genetic stagnation – Would One Size Fits All physiologies be an own goal, shutting down human evolution?
  • How do you update and upgrade synthetic people, and what are the risks?
  • At what point does a synthetic being become obsolete? What do you do about it?

A longer view

These questions all need more than answers. They need a sense of direction. Humanity has been totally ignoring its future, focusing on the “here and now” to the exclusion of all else. Therefore, it hasn’t been looking where it’s going.

This is a true life-changing technology. It can rewrite humanity and the “terms of life” from the ground up. It can’t be simple. Let’s hope the perspectives it creates will improve the vision of the future.

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Disclaimer
The opinions expressed in this Op-Ed are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the Digital Journal or its members.

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Written By

Editor-at-Large based in Sydney, Australia.

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