Re: European countries say no to human cloning

E. Shaun Russell (e_shaun@uniserve.com)
Mon, 12 Jan 1998 21:38:45 -0800


Max More wrote:

>To an Extropian, this news is scary stuff. Note what Chirac says: he's not
>just working on an international ban on human cloning, but on any genetic
>alterations to human beings. Goodbye one path to posthumanity!
>
>If the British are the only country to resist, maybe I'll have to move
>back. [Natasha--want to live in London?]

I think that the ban can be directly linked to the large amount of
media attention that has been brought to the breakthroughs in cloning.
Imagine, for instance, if Richard Seed and the ones who effectively cloned
Dolly (their names escape me right now) had kept their developments and
intentions away from the media; I think it is safe to say that there would
be no bans...because it would not have been propagated. It is because of
Seed's (and his predecessors') desire for media coverage that the potential
uses of cloning have been deemed "illegal" by the aforementioned countries.
Hopefully the creators of effective nanotechnology and other progressive
breakthroughs will have a little bit more discretion when announcing their
creations.

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E. Shaun Russell Poet, Musician, Atheist, Extropic Artist
==============================> Transhumanities editor for Homo Excelsior
Kineticize your potential. http://www.excelsior.org
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