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.Nonetheless, the worldwide rejection of the prospect of cloning tocreate a child provides some hope that our species is not inherently doomed.Bioethics alone is too weak a reed on which to build an international move-ment: human rights language is more powerful and has wider applicabil-ity.This is because it is not only medical and scientific practice that is atstake, but the nature of humanity and the rights of humans.Of course,because physician researchers will pioneer all relevant experiments, bio-ethics remains pivotal even if not determinative.Let me conclude this chap-ter with a few modest suggestions.40 Bioethics and Human RightsOn the national level, I have previously called for a moratorium ongene transfer experiments.That didn t happen, but the worldwide reassess-ment of gene transfer experiments makes such a moratorium less necessary.Nonetheless, we still need to ensure that all human gene transfer experiments,what are more commonly (and incorrectly) referred to as  gene therapy, beperformed with full public knowledge and transparency.44 A national debateon the goals of the research, and whether the lines between somatic cell andgermline research, or between treatment and enhancement research, aremeaningful should continue with more public involvement.45 My own viewis that the boundary line that really matters is set by the species itself and thatspecies-endangering experiments should be outlawed.We can take some actions on a national level, but we also need inter-national rules about the new science, including not only cloning and ge-netic engineering (which will be discussed in more detail in the next chapter),but also human machine cyborgs, xenografts, and brain alterations.46 Thesecould all fit into a new category of  crimes against humanity in the strictsense, actions that threaten the integrity of the human species itself.This isnot to say that changing the nature of humanity is always criminal, onlythat no individual scientist (or corporation or country) has the social ormoral warrant to endanger humanity, including altering humans in waysthat might endanger the species.Performing species-endangering experi-ments in the absence of social warrant, democratically developed, canproperly be considered a terrorist act.Xenografts, for example, carry therisk of releasing a new, lethal virus upon humanity.No individual scientistor corporation has the moral warrant to risk this.Altering the human spe-cies in a way that predictably endangers it should require a worldwidediscussion and debate, followed by a vote in an institution representativeof the world s population, the United Nations being the only such entitytoday.It should also require a deep and wide-ranging discussion of ourfuture and what kind of people we want to be, what kind of world we wantto live in, and how we can protect universal human rights based on humandignity and democratic principles.An international treaty banning specific species-endangering activitiesis necessary to make such a system effective.This, of course, begs twoquestions.First, exactly what types of human experiments should be pro-hibited? Second, what precisely is the international regime proposed? Asto the first, the general definition could encompass all experimental inter-ventions aimed at altering a fundamental characteristic of being human.There are at least two ways to change such characteristics.The first is tomake a human trait optional.Changing it in one member (who continuesThe Man on the Moon 41to be seen as a member of the species) would change the species definitionfor everyone.An example is asexual replication cloning.When one humansuccessfully engages in replication cloning, sexual reproduction will nolonger be a necessary characteristic of being human.All humans will becapable of asexual replication.This will matter to all humans because it isnot just our brains and what we can do with them (such as develop lan-guage and anticipate our deaths) that make us human, but also the interac-tion of our brains with our bodies [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]