Fears of Biotech Color the Debate

I am appalled by your Aug. 2 editorial blaming scientists for their “own hubris” in having “brashly dismissed legitimate public concerns” as a cause for the outrageous House ban on human cloning. This is a classic case of blaming the victim for the acts of the perpetrator.

Science should reject religious concerns when such concerns are anti-reason, and science should reject ethical concerns when such concerns are contrary to that which promotes what is healthy and beneficial to human life. The fault is not with scientists who are seeking to add years to people’s lives; the fault is with those who seek to regulate and restrict the freedom to pursue science. It is wrong to say that scientists have to “protect themselves from overzealous legislation”; it is right for scientists to say: Get out of our way and let us do our work.

We are at the dawning of a revolution in biotechnology, and if science is left free to do its job we will see such enhancements to human life as were not even dreamed of through all of history. We do not need Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World”’ or Steven Spielberg’s “Artificial Intelligence” to project a fearful future. We need an unrestricted science to actually create a world of wonder in which to live, and live longer at that.

Stephen Speicher

Department of Biology

Caltech, Pasadena

Re “Will Stem Cell Research Help or Harm the Disabled?” Voices, Aug. 4: Disabilities are indeed natural phenomena, and humans have the prerogative to manage nature for their own betterment. The effort to eliminate conditions such as cerebral palsy does not reflect intolerance of differences, and it will not result in uniformity, utopia or perfection. It does manifest the collective instinct for good health, strength and versatility that are the birthrights of us all.

Christopher Reeve represents more disabled people than just himself, I am sure, and he is the true superhero of the handicapped.

I do not hate Laura Minges or any other handicapped person. A member of my family has a disability. Like “hating the sin and loving the sinner,” we should love handicapped persons but hate the handicapping condition. That means giving disabled people the best quality of life possible but fighting disabilities with every weapon we have, including in-utero surgery, genetic engineering, sensory integration and fetal stem cell research.

Robert P. Sechler

Cypress