Principal, Delta Wisdom Chair, London Futurists

David Wood @dw2

Establishing Futuristic Rights

Principal, Delta Wisdom Chair, London Futurists

David Wood @dw2

Lessons from the current example of regulations governing genome editing

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Yesterday, London, First Life

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First Life Audience (yesterday)

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Exponential Technologies

Human enhancement

N B I C R G …

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Exponential Technologies

Human enhancement Regulations Incentives Markets Subsidies Expectations

Politics

N B I C R G …

Development

& Deployment

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Technologies with adverse social reaction

http://www.kabntr.org/plasticsucks/april-showers-bring-may-gmo-laced-flora-fauna-and-food/

http://honestlyhealthyfood.com/2014/03/11/gmos-genetically-modified-organisms-alkaline/

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Technologies with adverse social reaction

http://worldink.org/2014/02/15/genetically-modified-everything/

http://www.kabntr.org/plasticsucks/april-showers-bring-may-gmo-laced-flora-fauna-and-food/

http://honestlyhealthyfood.com/2014/03/11/gmos-genetically-modified-organisms-alkaline/

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Technologies with adverse social reaction

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/nuclear-energy/

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Technologies with adverse social reaction

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@dw2 Page 12 http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/07/drone-near-miss-passenger-plane-heathrow

Drone ‘near miss’ with passenger plane close to

Heathrow airport investigated

Incident risk rating of A – the highest of five categories – defined as a

“serious risk of collision”

@dw2 Page 13 http://www.fda.gov/ICECI/EnforcementActions/WarningLetters/2013/ucm376296.htm

“Most of the intended uses for PGS listed on your website, a list that has grown over time, are medical device uses under section

201(h) of the FD&C Act. Most of these uses have not been classified and thus require premarket approval or de novo

classification, as FDA has explained to you on numerous occasions.”

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Changing mindsets

http://www.heaven-speaks.com/bayside_test_tube_babies.html

“It is an abomination in the eyes of God for man in his arrogance and pride to seek to create the living being. What he is creating is a soulless monster, a being of destruction for all that it will meet. I say 'it', for it is not truly a human being but a 'thing'!”

– Our Lady, July 25, 1978

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Changing mindsets

http://www.heaven-speaks.com/bayside_test_tube_babies.html

“It is an abomination in the eyes of God for man in his arrogance and pride to seek to create the living being. What he is creating is a soulless monster, a being of destruction for all that it will meet. I say 'it', for it is not truly a human being but a 'thing'!”

– Our Lady, July 25, 1978

Opposition from politicians too

And from fellow scientists

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19537-test-tube-baby-pioneer-wins-medicine-nobel.html

Request for funding was denied by the UK's Medical Research Council

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Changing mindsets

http://www.heaven-speaks.com/bayside_test_tube_babies.html

“It is an abomination in the eyes of God for man in his arrogance and pride to seek to create the living being. What he is creating is a soulless monster, a being of destruction for all that it will meet. I say 'it', for it is not truly a human being but a 'thing'!”

– Our Lady, July 25, 1978

Opposition from politicians too

And from fellow scientists

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19537-test-tube-baby-pioneer-wins-medicine-nobel.html

Request for funding was denied by the UK's Medical Research Council

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Recommendations for a positive public discussion • There is value in bureaucracy (e.g. UK HFEA) • Prepare the ground: Air issues in advance • Don’t confuse science questions & value questions • Be political but not Political • Engage bishops – you may find allies • Rapid rebuttals to new lines of attack • Vocabulary matters – search hard for good wording • Talk about the benefits as well as the risks • Remember to appeal to heart as well as the head • Challenge the “precautionary principle”

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“Scientists Debate How Far To Go In Editing Human Genes”

http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/12/03/458212497/scientists-debate-how-far-to-go-in-editing-human-genes

“Addressing a panel of scientists from the audience, choking back tears, Sarah Gray described how her son suffered before dying of a genetic disorder six days after he was born.

“‘If you have the skills and the knowledge to fix these diseases,’ Gray said, ‘then freaking do it.’”

Sarah Gray American Association of Tissue Banks http://aatb.org/index.asp?bid=144

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Diametric opposition, or a continuum? Gut reaction:

“yes” Gut reaction:

“yuk”

Repair (cure)

Enhance (futuristic)

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Repair (cure)

Enhance (futuristic)

Diametric opposition, or a continuum?

Proactive avoidance

E.g. vaccination

Less likely to err

Better memory, steadier hands,

more self-control, smarter thinking

Gut reaction: “yes”

Gut reaction: “yuk”

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Repair (cure)

Enhance (futuristic)

Diametric opposition, or a continuum?

Proactive avoidance

E.g. vaccination

Less likely to err

Better memory, steadier hands,

more self-control, smarter thinking

Recognise that “natural” is

often flawed, and that

Humanity+ can be attractively

better

Gut reaction: “yes”

Gut reaction: “yuk”

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“Super-people”

“Futuristic people”

Traits needed, to overcome the “yuk” • Attractive (not weird) • Humanity+ (not anti-human) • Welcoming (not antagonistic) • Inclusive (not divisive) • Extropian (not utopian) • Reversible (not cliff-edge) • Wonderful New World (not Brave NW)