Brave, New Biotech World – Human-Animal Mix Ethics

Most parties to the debate seem to agree in rejecting two extremes – one, a Luddite panic about chimeras that would squelch valuable and ethically harmless research; the other, an “anything goes” attitude that would open the door to Crichtonesque monstrosities. The problem, as always, is where exactly the “just mean” lies, with scientists pushing the envelope, and ethicists and spiritual leaders pulling in the reins. Doerflinger said that beyond the science involved, something deeper is at stake in the chimera debate. “Some would like to render the sanctity of human life technologically obsolete by demonstrating that species membership is fungible,” he said. “If so, then the idea of natural law based on a fixed human nature is over. You’d have to come up with some other basis for rights, like sentience.” Doerflinger called that prospect a “real threat, a real motivation on the part of some,” and hence “something worth worrying about.”