Since the days of Mendeleev and his beans, humanity has known that genetics are the sole origin of the human body. From the color of your eyes to the shape of your head, everything about your physical existence is linked to your genes. As such, a great emphasis has been placed on the exploration of genetics with the goal being to be able to understand how humans work at a fundamental level. However, as with most scientific endeavors there is a crossroads. To make near limitless clean atomic energy, or develop and utilize the most powerful weapon the world has ever seen. To develop a pesticide that will bring forth a new age of agriculture or use that same pesticide to exterminate people in the Nazi death camps. These are just two examples out of a litany that show how science is simply a tool, and how horrific the results could be if applied for ill gain or out of ignorance. Currently, this is where we all stand, we have reached a crossroads in the field of genetic experimentation. Across the globe researchers are debating what path we should take, should they begin altering the genes of embryos and possibly cure previously incurable diseases. Or should they instead invoke caution and not meddle, thereby avoiding any potential malfeasance. The answer is a difficult one and like all great things deeply rooted in politics and bureaucracy. This brings me to China and the US, the people’s republic and the land of the free. Both at the forefront of genetic research, and yet both riddled with questionable goals.
China as is commonly known, is relatively impermeable to information flow, both into and out of. Who really knows for sure where the one-party state’s controversies lie, the government sure hasn’t gone to any lengths to open up to the international community. However, on the opposite side of this coin, China is seen as an enigma, and when science and potentially ground-breaking research is concerned, information must be able to flow freely. China regularly invests huge sums in its government run research projects, genetics being included. This investment has yielded some amazing results, particularly in the fields of renewable and energy production. In recent years however, the Chinese scientific community has been embroiled in a series of highly dubious reports. For starters, China is still the only country to have cloned primates, an act that is severely criticized around the rest of the world as having the potential for monstrous results. Furthermore, in 2018 Chinese researcher He Jiankui claimed to have conducted the first successful gene edit of a human embryo using the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing tool. At the time, this news story shocked the global community and although the scientist in question was criticized and his research questioned, this event did serve as a wake-up call. How could a rogue research group skirt regulation, avoid adhering to ethical guidelines and, under the nose of their own government, experiment on human embryos. Simply put, the Chinese guidelines and regulation of its research groups were lacking in certain key areas, allowing the research group to conduct the infamous experiment. Since then, because of the global call for better regulation, the Chinese Ministry of Health has drafted new guidelines for biomedical research. It is interesting to note that no where in the draft is the name He Jiankui, or his team, mentioned. It is uncertain whether this omission was incidental, or indicative of more nefarious intentions on the part of the government.
China has a dubious record for ethical consideration when it comes to genetic research, but how does the United States compare. Firstly, the United States, being the world’s largest economy is also one of the largest investors in biomedical research. It has some of the tightest regulations in place for research laboratories and a generally well reputed FDA. Furthermore, the nation is home to hundreds of biotech and biomedical research corporations as well as some of the world’s leading universities, including UC Berkeley, where CRISPR-Cas9 was first harnessed. It’s also easy to see why the US invests so heavily in biotech, as in the global market genetically modified organisms hold the majority share of the agricultural production of the most important crops. Companies like Monsanto and DuPont, 2 of the largest companies and also most controversial in this market segment, forcing predatory use agreements on farmers. Essentially, upon purchase of GMO seeds, farmers must sign an agreement that they will not use seeds for more than one crop cycle, and purchase a new batch each cycle. This dependence on multinational, profit driven corporations that draws criticism to the US, as well as other nations for their lack of oversight and support of farmers. Currently, the level of corporate control of agriculture is rising to the point where these businesses are holding a quasi-monopoly over the market, and force growers to rely on their products through lawsuits and threats of no supply. It is a scary prospect when the main producers of the food you eat isn’t farmers, but multinational corporations with a long leash, and a government which fails to see the problem this poses.
As is evident, there are many problems surrounding genetics and their place in the modern world. This is the crossroads that we have arrived at, nations like China, who have loose regulations and occasionally twisted motives, thus allowing horrific experimental inquiry. Or nations like the US, where although the research is done in earnest, it isn’t for the purpose of genuine scientific inquiry, but rather profit driven corporophilic desires. Whichever way we cut the issue, there are pros and cons. Simply put, mixing politics and genetics is not a recipe that often works out in everyone’s favor. Yet, for all these flaws the field of genetics is one of the most groundbreaking, applicable scientific disciplines with potential to revolutionize society. With a little more regulation and accountability on the side of governments, who knows, we may yet achieve that next groundbreaking step.
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