While the 20th century has gone down in history as the century of energy fueled by the atom, the 21st century is proving to be the century of medicine propelled by the gene.  In just the first decade of this new century advances in molecular biomedical sciences have outpaced all prior discoveries throughout the history of mankind.  Since the human genome was effectively deciphered in 2000, science continues to unravel the complexities and ordering significance of some 3.5 billion nucleotides comprised of the 4 bases we’ve all come to know and love – ACTG.   Multisyllabic terms like pharmacogenomics and nucleotide polymorphisms are moving out of research laboratories and into every day applications.  It seems clear that medicine will experience hereto unrivaled rates of growth in this decade and those to come,  propelled by our new understanding of the wonders of DNA.

While the 20th century has gone down in history as the century of energy fueled by the atom, the 21st century is proving to be the century of medicine propelled by the gene.  In just the first decade of this new century advances in molecular biomedical sciences have outpaced all prior discoveries throughout the history of mankind.  Since the human genome was effectively deciphered in 2000, science continues to unravel the complexities and ordering significance of some 3.5 billion nucleotides comprised of the 4 bases we’ve all come to know and love – ACTG.   Multisyllabic terms like pharmacogenomics and nucleotide polymorphisms are moving out of research laboratories and into every day applications.  It seems clear that medicine will experience hereto unrivaled rates of growth in this decade and those to come,  propelled by our new understanding of the wonders of DNA.   Ultimately the field of medicine will shift from a reactive mode of treating disease to a proactive mode of prevention and treatment of early disease stages prior to the onset of more advanced symptomatic conditions.  Today there are more than 1000 tests characterized as molecular or DNA based, and this number is expected to double within the next few years.  Yet even given all of the advances over the first decade of the 21st century, we really only understand the significance of less than 5% of our DNA.   Clearly game changing advances are dawning on the horizon.

Certainly within the next 25 years, and maybe even before we close the history books on this new decade, our understanding of the human genome will enable manipulation of egg and/or sperm DNA sequences to input “positive” human traits while suppressing or removing “negative” ones.  Yes, the first “designed” baby will make his or her debut sometime in the not too distant future.  Whether DNA manipulation occurs legally in a licensed research facility or family health center, or illegally off-shore somewhere, make no mistake, it is coming.  Today, the going rate for egg or sperm cells from Ivy League students is somewhere in the $50,000 range.  If the wealthy can afford such acquisitions and fertilize their egg (in vitro), will their offspring have an intellectual advantage?  Maybe, maybe not.  But is this not step one in the march toward designed offspring?

I suppose the underlying question is this: will human genetic manipulations be positive for the overall conditio humana?  Will the condition of the human race be far better at the midway point of this 21st century?  Will it be better by the end of the 21st century, a mere 90 years off?  From a medical perspective relative to disease prevention, diagnoses and treatments, I think the answer is clearly yes.  But will manipulation of human embryonic genomes affect marked improvements in our race’s overall condition?  This answer lies in ones’ definition of conditio humana.  Yes, athletic, beauty and scholastic records would surely be broken and re-written by century’s end, but taking design into our own hands is worrisome.  The horrors of Hilter’s eugenics are well documented, but is it possible that we may be unwittingly re-inventing eugenics in a much more subtle and “acceptable” fashion?  After all, eugenics is defined by Wikipedia as: “the applied science or biosocial movement which advocates the use of practices aimed at improving the genetic composition of a population”.

Advancements in molecular sciences and a better understanding of the human genome will ultimately open the gate into territory previously known only to God.  To date, the design and purpose of each and every new life has been God’s role, and not ours.  Will a glimpse into the future bring us closer to Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World where………….

“Alpha children wear grey. They work much harder than we do, because they're so frightfully clever. I'm awfully glad I'm a Beta, because I don't work so hard. And then we are much better than the Gammas and Deltas. Gammas are stupid. They all wear green, and Delta children wear khaki. Oh no, I don't want to play with Delta children. And Epsilons are still worse. They're too stupid to be able to read or write. Besides they wear black, which is a beastly color. I'm so glad I'm a Beta.”
- Aldous Huxley, Brave New World