Paul Knoepfler: The ethical dilemma of designer babies
פול קנופלר: תינוקות מהונדסים: הדילמה המוסרית
Paul Knoepfler is a biomedical scientist and writer focusing on stem cells and genetics. Full bio
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to go down that road together?
לעשות דבר כזה יחד?
שזה רעיון רע,
friends and coworkers
Marianne, next to you,
consciously made that decision,
they kind of look down on you.
a Luddite or a technophobe.
או טכנופובים.
who lives right next door,
הבת של השכנים,
designer baby with numerous upgrades.
מושבחת גנטית ומשודרגת מאד.
modification technology
hired to do this
שכרו לשם כך
into a whole panel of human embryos.
של עוברים אנושיים
that little tiny embryo, Jenna's embryo,
בשר ודם,
in your living room
each other for years now,
she's smarter than you,
שהיא יותר חכמה מכם,
a whole new generation
than their parents' generation,
מבחינת הטיפול הבריאותי.
of health conditions,
this sort of unsettling feeling,
just not quite right about Jenna,
שמשהו אינו כשורה אצל ג'נה,
about other GM kids that you've met.
כלפי ילדים מהונדסים אחרים.
in the newspaper earlier this week
who were born as designer babies
שנולדו בהנדסה גנטית
and narcissism.
from Jenna's family.
ממשפחתה של ג'נה:
to a special school,
than your daughter Marianne,
מזה של בתכם מריאן,
your family into a disarray.
to kiss her goodnight,
even be my friend anymore?"
תמשיך להיות חברה שלי?"
this imagined 2030 story,
את האגדה על שנת 2030
that I may have put some of you
frame of reference. Right?
in Halloween mode of thinking.
a possible reality for us,
טכנולוגיית "קריספר" החדשה הזאת
on what we decide to do today.
kind of thinking in sci-fi mode,
had a huge shock earlier this year,
מוקדם יותר השנה
doesn't even know about it.
of genetically modified human embryos.
שהונדסו גנטית,
this new CRISPR technology.
they sort of cracked the door ajar
are going to run with this technology
יקפצו על הטכנולוגיה הזאת
may hold up your hands and say,
כמה מכם אולי ירימו יד ויגידו:
and create a designer baby."
להנדס תינוק."
including my country, the US,
כולל ארצי, ארה"ב,
so in theory, you could do it.
אז תיאורטית אפשר.
this year that resonates in this area,
שמשפיעה על התחום הזה,
not so far from here over in the UK.
has been the strictest country
genetic modification.
of genetically modified humans
to prevent a rare kind of genetic disease.
של מחלה גנטית.
these events are pushing us
דוחפים אותנו עוד
about this CRISPR technology.
that we're all more familiar with,
המוכרת לנו בצמחים,
is similar to the technologies
שבה משתמשים בצמחים,
זולה ומהירה.
a genetic Swiss army knife.
is kind of like a magnifying glass
the genetic code in that location.
את הקוד הגנטי במיקום הזה.
on the scene just three years ago,
שהופיעה רק לפני שלוש שנים,
so freaking exciting to scientists,
וכל כך משלהבת מדענים,
and we use it in my own lab,
ומשתמש בה במעבדה שלי –
is going to go that extra step
literally have this in hand today,
מחזיקות בזה היום,
in designer babies.
going on with CRISPR.
מלאכת מחקר חשובה.
now do genetic modifications
and cost millions of dollars
ועלתה מיליוני דולרים,
for a couple thousand bucks,
ועולה כמה אלפי דולרים,
so much on science.
to be driving them.
or the chase for a profit.
for designer babies.
if we go back two centuries,
מלפני מאתיים שנה
profoundly have impacted humanity,
השפיעו עמוקות על האנושות,
a social Darwinism at work in our world,
דרוויניזם חברתי ואולי גם השבחת גזע.
of this CRISPR technology
one century to the last century
רק למאה שעברה
של תורת השבחת הגזע,
and he was born here in 1929.
והוא נולד כאן, בשנת 1929.
had little baby Peter,
וינה הייתה שונה אז,
of the eugenics equation.
של משוואת השבחת הגזע.
home for generations,
בגלל תורת השבחת הגזע,
but they were heartbroken,
ever really got over leaving Vienna.
עם העזיבה של וינה.
השבחת גזע מסוג חדש
gentler, positive eugenics,
חביבה וחיובית,
on trying to improve people,
בניסיון לשפר בני אדם,
בהשבחת הגזע החדשה הזאת
of this new eugenics,
to make it happen.
about making better people.
ביצירת אנשים טובים יותר.
about a human being?
כאן,
we think we could be better.
more hair here, instead of baldness.
במקום קרחת.
we could make those things happen,
in our children,
would be these risks.
to individuals as well.
healthier using genetic modification,
ע"י שינוי גנטי
we could make them sicker.
אותם לחולים יותר.
important genetic modification research
על הנדסה גנטית
the designer baby route,
an interest in genetic modification.
הדמיונית שלנו,
like they have lower health care costs,
מבחינת ההוצאות על בריאות,
may start trying to compel their citizens
the birth of 400 million human beings.
400 מיליון בני אדם.
could be something that governments push.
are thought to be fashionable,
the new glitterati,
that we really could control?
about genetic modification,
or invoked more than anything else,
and all this other stuff.
ודברים אחרים בסגנון.
and we think about it in the human context
בהקשר האנושי,
costume their children genetically,
תחפושת גנטית על ילדיהם,
a Frankenstein 2.0 kind of situation?
פרנקנשטיין 2.0?
it's going to get to that extreme.
hacking the human code,
התעסקות עם הקוד האנושי
in terms of what might come of that.
of transformative science
basically go out of control
and that is in vitro fertilization.
הפריה חוץ גופית.
Louise Brown was born,
לואיז בראון,
five million IVF babies have been born,
חמישה מיליון ילדי מבחנה
את הילדים האלה.
in four decades,
שתוך ארבעה עשורים
from a new technology
בטכנולוגיה חדשה,
and designer babies.
ועם תינוקות מהונדסים.
we make in the next few months,
שנקבל בחודשים הקרובים,
of genetically modified humans.
מושבחים גנטית.
because if we, you in the audience, or I,
כי אם אנחנו, אתם בקהל או אני
תינוקות מהונדסים,
be genetically modified, and so on,
מושבחים גנטית וכן הלאה
בעוד חודש ממחר,
with human genetic modification?
בהשבחה גנטית אנושית?
creating genetically modified people,
אנשים מושבחים גנטית,
and too unpredictable.
ובלתי צפוי מדי.
for me to say that in public,
לומר זאת בפומבי,
self-regulation and things like that.
ודברים כאלה.
who not only disagree with me,
full speed ahead,
ולדהור קדימה,
to follow in the next few months,
there may be no moratorium.
תקופת השעיה,
of the problem that we have
applying to humans,
ביחס לבני אדם
this is a revolution,
זאת מהפכה
in very personal ways.
בדרכים מאוד אישיות."
is actually to change that
that there will be a role for the public
הציבור ישחק תפקיד
to 2030 again, that imagined story,
we make, again, today --
the next year or so,
is spreading like wildfire.
כאש בשדה קוצים.
תינוק מהונדס?
the sort of traditional route,
the place like mine.
כמו אצלי,
are kind of swinging like this,
but compare them, right?
they're a better student,
הוא תלמיד טוב יותר
you need to wipe.
might you make next time?
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Paul Knoepfler - BiologistPaul Knoepfler is a biomedical scientist and writer focusing on stem cells and genetics.
Why you should listen
Dr. Paul Knoepfler loves stem cells. He is working to figure out how we use safely them to treat many diseases and how stem cells sometimes turn to the dark side to cause cancer. Over the years he has made key discoveries about how stem cells and cancer are programmed. Now he is especially interested in how to hack these cells to control their behavior, including using powerful CRISPR genetic modification technology.
Knoepfler has also been a leading voice in the discussion about how CRISPR could be used to make designer babies and the risks of going down that path. He is a professor of cell biology and anatomy at UC Davis School of Medicine in California, where he both does research and teaches. In addition, he is a prolific writer including his popular science blog, The Niche, and two books: Stem Cells: An Insider's Guide and GMO Sapiens: The Life-Changing Science of Designer Babies. He is excited about contributing to efforts to build an innovative, global community of interconnected people with a shared passion for biomedical science and battling fake science. Knoepfler’s outspoken, approachable nature in tackling some of the most transformative questions in science has made him a go-to scientist for journalists and ordinary people across the globe.
Paul Knoepfler | Speaker | TED.com