I read in a recent article that biologists are now capable of creating living things from inanimate constituent elements. Call it "designer life".
The horrors of unnatural creation have always had a hold on our imagination. But somehow I'm convinced that author Mary Shelley would not recognize this new technology. Forget Frankenstein -- it's Frankenstein bugs that we should worry about. "Bugs", as in viruses or bacteria specifically engineered to survive any natural antidote.
Scientists are worried that the means to create new life could be used for criminal purposes. Imagine, for example, a pandemic caused by a virus that cannot be stopped, because it was invented specifically for that purpose.
This is a public issue to trump all public issues. Bioethicists and the American people alike have a vested interest in keeping the associated dangers at bay. And so, I ask, when will we have serious debates about such issues in our hallowed halls of Congress?
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