"Human beings, as currently constituted, are good enough"

Just to be clear: If I went into an IVF clinic and I said that I carry a high risk for diabetes, and we've come up with a genetic solution to that, you would say...

I would say that if you have a disease that's genetically determined and so serious that it needs to be dealt with, then let's use some other technologies, like pre-implantation genetic diagnosis or something like that, if it's a truly tragic disease like cystic fibrosis and you're determined. Just like we use genetic screening of parents now to avoid those sorts of things. That makes some sense. But if the question is, should we begin engineering embryos against prospective problems that may someday develop? then, no. It's the double black diamond ski slope of all slippery slopes.

Given the relative quiescence and even antagonism of much of the American public in responding to the challenges of self-induced climate change, how do you think about the prospects for politically responding to a challenge like germ-line engineering?

The advantage of human genetic engineering over climate change is that we haven't done it yet. When you're dealing with climate change, you have to go and rewrite the entire basis of the economic system to get at it. That's a hard task, and it's been a hard one since the beginning. This will be a hard task for other reasons, but at least we're not already deep into it.

Social conservatives, including opponents of abortion rights, have been so vocal in their own opposition to human cloning. Does that make you uncomfortable politically?

My intent is not to promote alliances with social conservatives. My intent is to make progressives understand that this is a really dangerous issue that they need to take on. So my allies in this are people like Judy Norsigian [of the Boston Women's Health Collective] or Tom Hayden or Greenpeace or all the other people who have taken this stance.

Have you ever taken a day or an evening or a weekend and thought through the possibility of re-engineering the human species? There are scientists and even bioethicists who are actively promoting it, saying: "Let's go for it. Let's really alter the human species. There is no essential human nature that we need to protect. Whatever we call human nature is part of the problem, maybe even part of the problem that won't allow us to adequately respond to the climate change that we've induced." Have you ever allowed yourself to pursue that line of fantasy, if not thought, and consider it as an option?

You know, it's entirely possible to make the case that human beings are a huge problem and that we'd be better off with something else in their place. Of course, everyone who's ever dealt seriously with environmental issues or issues of war and peace, or any other of the great human failings can think that. For me, we remain a sweet, interesting, intriguing species, full of enormous potential that we have yet to fully realize. I think that we've got all kinds of room to find out good ways of being human within our biological limitations.

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