Paul Knoepfler: The ethical dilemma of designer babies
Paul Knoepfler: Det etiske dilemma rundt designerbabyer
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?
ville gjøre det sammen?
friends and coworkers
vennene og kollegene våre
Marianne, next to you,
Marianne, ved siden av deg,
genetisk modifisert.
consciously made that decision,
bevisst gjorde det valget,
they kind of look down on you.
ned på dere.
a Luddite or a technophobe.
who lives right next door,
og nabojente, Jenna,
designer baby with numerous upgrades.
designerbaby med mange oppgraderinger.
modification technology
for genmodifisering
hired to do this
Jenna brukte til å gjøre dette,
into a whole panel of human embryos.
mennekseembryoer.
that little tiny embryo, Jenna's embryo,
Jennas embryo
in your living room
each other for years now,
hverandre i flere år nå,
she's smarter than you,
er hun smartere enn deg,
a whole new generation
helt ny generasjon
than their parents' generation,
of health conditions,
this sort of unsettling feeling,
just not quite right about Jenna,
er som det skal med Jenna,
about other GM kids that you've met.
om andre GM-barn du har møtt.
in the newspaper earlier this week
who were born as designer babies
and narcissism.
from Jenna's family.
foreldrene til Jenna
to a special school,
than your daughter Marianne,
your family into a disarray.
to kiss her goodnight,
og kysset henne god natt,
even be my friend anymore?"
til å være vennen min lengre?"
this imagined 2030 story,
forestilte 2030-historien,
that I may have put some of you
gitt noen av dere
frame of reference. Right?
in Halloween mode of thinking.
a possible reality for us,
en mulig virkelighet for oss,
i den virkeligheten,
on what we decide to do today.
kind of thinking in sci-fi mode,
had a huge shock earlier this year,
et stort sjokk tidligere i år,
doesn't even know about it.
for få måneder siden
of genetically modified human embryos.
genetisk modifiserte menneskeembryoer.
this new CRISPR technology.
den nye CRISPR-teknologien.
they sort of cracked the door ajar
har åpnet døren på gløtt
are going to run with this technology
denne teknologien,
may hold up your hands and say,
kanskje opp hånden og sier,
and create a designer baby."
including my country, the US,
inkludert mitt land, USA,
so in theory, you could do it.
så i teorien kan man gjøre det.
this year that resonates in this area,
som er viktig på dette området,
not so far from here over in the UK.
ikke så langt herfra, i Storbritannia.
has been the strictest country
vært det strengeste landet
genetic modification.
genmodifisering av mennesker
of genetically modified humans
genetisk modifiserte mennesker
to prevent a rare kind of genetic disease.
en sjelden form for genetisk sykdom.
these events are pushing us
av disse begivenhetene fører oss
about this CRISPR technology.
denne CRISPR-teknologien
that we're all more familiar with,
vi alle kjenner bedre,
is similar to the technologies
ligner på teknologien
a genetic Swiss army knife.
genetisk lommekniv.
is kind of like a magnifying glass
som et slags forstørrelsesglass
the genetic code in that location.
den genetiske koden på det stedet.
on the scene just three years ago,
på kartet for bare tre år siden,
so freaking exciting to scientists,
fantastisk spennende for vitenskapsmenn,
and we use it in my own lab,
av det, og vi bruker det i min lab,
is going to go that extra step
å gå det ekstra skrittet
literally have this in hand today,
bokstavlig talt dette for hånden i dag,
in designer babies.
interessert i designerbabyer.
going on with CRISPR.
på gang med CRISPR.
now do genetic modifications
genetiske modifikasjoner
and cost millions of dollars
flere millioner dollar
for a couple thousand bucks,
so much on science.
like mye på vitenskapen.
to be driving them.
or the chase for a profit.
eller jakten på penger.
for designer babies.
å satse på designerbabyer.
være bekymret for dette?
if we go back two centuries,
hvis vi går to århundrer tilbake,
profoundly have impacted humanity,
påvirket menneskeheten kraftig,
a social Darwinism at work in our world,
sosialdarwinisme i verk i verden,
of this CRISPR technology
one century to the last century
tilbake i tid, til forrige århundre
and he was born here in 1929.
had little baby Peter,
fikk lille baby Peter,
of the eugenics equation.
eugenetiske likningen.
home for generations,
deres families hjem i generasjoner,
på grunn av eugenikken
but they were heartbroken,
men de var i sorg,
ever really got over leaving Vienna.
kom over å måtte forlate Wien.
gentler, positive eugenics,
varsommere, positiv eugenikk,
on trying to improve people,
på å forbedre folk,
of this new eugenics,
for den nye eugenikken,
to make it happen.
til å få dette til å skje.
about making better people.
å lage bedre mennesker.
about a human being?
snakk om mennesker?
jeg tror mange av oss
hvis vi ser oss i speilet,
we think we could be better.
more hair here, instead of baldness.
litt mer hår her, isteden for skallethet.
we could make those things happen,
få de tingene til å skje,
in our children,
å skje i barna våre,
would be these risks.
en risiko med det.
to individuals as well.
for individene også.
healthier using genetic modification,
ved å bruke genmodifisering,
we could make them sicker.
kunne gjøre dem sykere.
important genetic modification research
viktige genetisk modifikasjonsforskningen
the designer baby route,
an interest in genetic modification.
interessert i genmodifisering.
GM Jenna-barn
like they have lower health care costs,
å koste helserelaterte kostnader,
may start trying to compel their citizens
begynne å oppfordre befolkningen
the birth of 400 million human beings.
400 millioner barnefødsler.
mulighetenes grenser
could be something that governments push.
kan bli noe myndighetene ønsker.
are thought to be fashionable,
the new glitterati,
that we really could control?
vi kunne kontrollere?
about genetic modification,
genetisk modifikasjon,
or invoked more than anything else,
mer enn noe annet,
and all this other stuff.
og slike ting.
and we think about it in the human context
tenker på det i forbindelse med mennesker
costume their children genetically,
diktere sine barn genetisk,
a Frankenstein 2.0 kind of situation?
Frankenstein 2.0 situasjon?
it's going to get to that extreme.
det blir så ekstremt.
hacking the human code,
til mennesker,
in terms of what might come of that.
of transformative science
endrende vitenskap
basically go out of control
and that is in vitro fertilization.
og det er in-vitro-fertilisering.
Louise Brown was born,
Louise Brown, født,
five million IVF babies have been born,
har blitt født siden det,
in four decades,
at det på 40 år,
from a new technology
på grunn av ny teknologi,
and designer babies.
og desigerbabyer.
we make in the next few months,
vi tar de neste månedene,
of genetically modified humans.
genmodifiserte mennesker.
because if we, you in the audience, or I,
fordi om vi, dere i publikum, eller jeg,
å få en designerbaby,
be genetically modified, and so on,
og så videre,
with human genetic modification?
genmodifisering av mennesker?
creating genetically modified people,
genmodifiserte mennekser,
and too unpredictable.
og for uforutsigbart.
for me to say that in public,
å si det i offentligheten,
self-regulation and things like that.
selvregulering og slike ting.
who not only disagree with me,
ikke bare er uenige med meg,
full speed ahead,
Full fart framover,
to follow in the next few months,
kommer etter de neste månedene,
there may be no moratorium.
at det ikke blir noen utsettelse.
of the problem that we have
applying to humans,
genetisk modifikasjon av mennesker,
this is a revolution,
dette er en revolusjon,
in very personal ways.
på en veldig personlig måte."
is actually to change that
that there will be a role for the public
blir en rolle for folket
to 2030 again, that imagined story,
den tenkte historien,
we make, again, today --
vi tar, igjen, i dag --
the next year or so,
neste år eller noe,
is spreading like wildfire.
spres som ild i tørt gress.
i den virkeligheten.
å få en designerbaby?
the sort of traditional route,
tradisjonelle veien,
the place like mine.
are kind of swinging like this,
but compare them, right?
they're a better student,
de er bedre elever,
you need to wipe.
du må tørke
might you make next time?
kommer du til å ta neste gang?
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