Biotech

In his article, Our Biotech Future, Freeman Dyson highlights the impact that genetic engineering and "green" technology could have on our society. He envisions them becoming household processes, which anyone can experiment with. He is a strong believer that the more available these technologies are too the public, the more diverse and wonderful our findings will be. There are many concerning things about what he says, but it is an interesting approach. Instead of having only the most experienced, intellegent scientists dealing with these technologies, the masses should be in charge, because with their numbers, the trial and error process is much more likely to be fruitful. This logic is the same that dictates Darwinian Evolution. The more diverse a community is, the healthier it is and the better suited it is to deal with various problems. It is a very capitalistic approach to scientific research. Create a level playing field for all competiitors, and the strong will survive. His argument that this will help small villages seems to have many logical gaps. What says that "green" technology will aid villagers? Won't it just be used by individual inventors to make personal profit? The people making these discoveries would most likely not be those in small villages, since they are some of the poorest and would have the most limited access to "green" research. No matter how cheap we make the biotech process, it will not be affordable for all. Personal computers have had tremendous success and have become cheaper and more efficient. Still computers and internet access is tough to find in many developing nations. What says that biotech will find a way to be any cheaper? Even if it ever becomes economically viable, there is still the ethical question. Should humans have the power to create new types of life? Is it alright to manipulate the human genome and create human mutants? While raising exciting possibilities, this article seems to be more of a science fiction story than a path that humans should follow.