Eugenics, forced sterilization and mercy killings

Do I have your attention yet?

Improving the human condition has been the goal of the medical, scientific, political and philosophical communities since the dawn of reason.

Unfortunately, when it comes to defining what better means there has never been a clear consensus. In fact, prejudice, misinformation and hatred have often been motivators to events and methods for bettering humanity. The Nazi eugenics movement conjures nightmares of mass genocide with its racism-clouded approach to altering the human genome. However, Nazi eugenics didn’t just take aim at the jewish population. Indeed, any persons classified of being inferior were a target of Nazi “applied racial science.” The Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring was a government policy of forced sterilization designed to weed out everything from mental disability and mental illness to hereditary illnesses – such as epilepsy – to alcoholism.

But the Nazis weren’t the only group guilty of forced sterilization programs. Various European and Asian countries, even Canada and the United States at one point, had forced or coerced sterilization programs. In 2009, the Czech government apologized to the Roma population for its policy of forced and coerced sterilization. More frightening was the suggestion, at the time, the practice might still be taking place.

Closer to home, the Alberta government apologized in 1999 for its policies of forced sterilization. The most notorious cases came out of the Alberta Training School, a place once considered the premiere facility for the treatment of mental illness. But Alberta wasn’t the only province to enshrine forced sterilization into law. The Sexual Sterilization Act was also adopted in British Columbia.

Eugenics has been on my mind all week, triggered by an article I read about Robert Latimer, a Saskatchewan farmer who was granted parole after serving 20 years in prison for the murder of his daughter. For those who don’t know, Latimer killed his 12-year-old daughter; she had severe cerebral policy. He believes what he did was right and after 20 years still defends his actions and is calling on the Canadian government to legalize what he calls “mercy killings.”

Very quickly. My take on the issue is Latimer was not justified in the premeditated murder of his child. I agree with many comments I have read that suggest Latimer’s actions were not designed to alleviate his daughter’s pain, but his own.

Although I don’t support what Latimer did, what if we had the power to prevent mental and physical disabilities out right? I am not talking about forced sterilization or abortion. What I am suggesting is: what if we had the technology to manipulate DNA, or predict what combinations of DNA would yield disabilities? Should we act to prevent those defects?

Here is a scenario: In the future, parents go for a pre-natal exam and learn their child has the genetic markings for a serious physical or mental illness. What do they do? Well, in this future world of medical marvels a simple surgery on the fetus to repair its genes fixes the problem and voila a perfectly healthy child is born. Would you accept such a procedure? To me it’s a no brainer.

Ok, what if the world wasn’t so neat and tidy, as it often is isn’t. What if instead it was more like Andrew Niccol’s Gattaca? I happen to love this movie and it does present some thoughtful moral dilemmas. But for the sake of this column, I am going to focus on the notion that a couple can test their genetic makeup prior to conceiving. That test will then generate a report predicting their future child’s odds for certain illnesses and disabilities. The report will even outline the offspring’s potential aptitudes. Would you allow a report of statistics and odds to influence if you would have a child, or with whom you would have that child? It’s definitely a slippery slope.

When you consider this keep in mind there are many examples of people who have overcome serious illness and serious disabilities to become major contributors to society.

I am still undecided. But I am leaning towards it be favourable to give my child every possible opportunity. Would those not be optimized if he or she had a healthy start?

The robots have brought me out of hiding

It has been a few months since my last post. I briefly considered feeling bad about it and apologizing for my absence, but it would be insincere. I haven’t really felt like writing and it has been a busy few months.

But, exciting advancements in the development of the future master race and our one-day slaver overlords have brought me up out of the basement to scream apocalyptic prophecy. Ok, I am still in the basement. It’s dark and quiet here; the voices can’t find me. (I will let you ponder if I am actually crazy or just messin’ around)

This, however, is too awesome to ignore.

If you follow my tweets, technology or live on the planet’s surface you have likely already heard about this. It is likely the most advanced robotic human hand ever constructed.

How often do you look at your hand, open and close it, rotate your wrist and marvel at the complexity? If you haven’t before, do it now and come back impressed. Our hands are the most intricate parts of our body and the most difficult to duplicate. Rightly so. The range of motion and dexterity we possess in those appendages are given credit by some branches of science for the evolution of our species.

For decades we have been working at replicating the dynamics of the human hand. It has not been an easy task. The hand is notoriously hard to duplicate (gamers know this well). One of the earliest robotic hands was developed in the 1960s. Since then variations have grown more complex. Robotic hands are employed for tasks as laborious as moving objects from one place to another to as delicate as performing surgery.

What makes this hand so unique and groundbreaking is its durability. Other designs, equally as impressive in range of movement and manipulation, are more fragile.

This newest design has the potential to greatly advance service robotics. Combined with developments in Artificial Intelligence and humanoid worker robots have moved a step closer. Well, that is unless they decide they’d rather we do the work while they sip gastinis.

Space: the corporate frontier?

I have always been a sci-fi geek. Ever since my dad sat me down to my first episode of Star Trek I was hooked. Of course, space travel isn’t anything like our favourite sci-fi series or movies and for most of us it is out of reach, at least for now.

The good news, at least for those looking to one day break orbit, the push toward commercial space travel is ramping up. I wrote the other day about the opening of the first commercial spaceport, but this week there is an even more exciting announcement – space habitats.

Bigelow Aerospace is developing an idea for space outposts. If successful, these leased orbital stations will be the first privately-owned habitable space structures. That, of course, has its positives and negatives. On the positive side, it will boost access and make space available to more people (albeit the ridiculously rich). On the downside, it will turn space into a commodity, which is contrary to my Star Trekesque view of space travel and colonization. For some reason I see the cosmos as something that should remain free and, once the technology advances sufficiently, is available to everyone. unfortunately, monetizing space is likely unavoidable for the time being. It will take money to get there and the corporate community might be the best suited to develop space travel technology so it becomes more common place,  something government has failed to accomplish.

But, once we stake claims and capitalize space is there turning back? Will the galaxy one day become the altruistic frontier I think it should? Or are we on the road to a corporate dystopia?

Commercial space flight: Opening the door to the final frontier?

Eight years before the lunar landing the first manned spacecraft left Earth’s atmosphere making history and Yuri Gagarin famous (a crater on the moon is named after him). His flight lasted just under two hours - enough time to orbit the Earth once. Nearly a decade and 33 manned missions (varying from suborbital flights to trips around the moon) later Apollo 11 set down on the moon’s surface and Neil Armstrong became the first man to set foot on an extra-orbital body.  In 1972, Apollo 17 was the fourth and last mission to the surface of the moon and more than 30 years later we have yet to accomplish another extra-planetary landing, but that might soon change.

Virgin Galactic is opening the first commercial spaceport (I have found conflicting reports on the opening date, one says it opened last month another says it will open in four months).  Space tourism has been on the radar for 40 years. Pan Am was actually taking bookings for commercial flights to the moon following Apollo 11′s succesful landing. Although there have been a few private citizens who have embarked on tourist missions to space, this will mark the beginning of regular and “affordable” ($200,000 is affordable compared to $20 million) tourist flights.  What it also means is advancement.

Unlike a government-controlled agency, private business has a greater incentive to improve and become more cost-effective. One tourist operator will lead to a variety of tourist operators and to succeed they will need to offer the best experience at the best price. Ten-day orbital tours will evolve into trips around the moon, spacewalks and eventually lunar landings. From there, well, the sky is no longer the limit. To achieve this with untrained private citizens the technology will have to be nearly fool-proof, but, most of all, it will have to push the envelope. Those developing the space-tourism industry will be locked in a battle of progression and hopefully that will mean rapid progression in spacecraft design and propulsion systems.

Although $200,000 is a bit out of my price range, as competition increases and technology improves the cost will come down. When that happens new experiences will have to be marketed and the real advancements will emerge. When orbital and lunar tours have become yesterday’s unique pleasure trips then companies will have to go bigger and farther. I can’t wait to book my spa get away at the Ritz Mars.

1923 time traveller: fun while it lasted.

Is the person walking through the shot in the Charlie Chaplain film a time traveller speaking on a cellphone or is she simply testing her new Siemens Hearing aid?

Unfortunately it is likely the latter; but it is fun to think we captured an inattentive time agent strolling through a movie set while sending a message back to the future via her hand-held communication device.

For years time travel was lumped into the pile of garbage science; ruled impossible by scientists and left in the realm of science fiction. Over the past few years the advances in quantum theory have led to more credible theories about how time travel would work. In a past post I mentioned Stephen Hawking’s theory.

Hawking isn’t the only scientist with public views on how time travel is achievable. Dr. Michio Kaku also has theories on the subject. What is interesting about Kaku’s theory is his solution to the grandfather paradox. Essentially the paradox refers to a time traveller meeting his or her grandfather in the past and murdering him (how could you go back in time and kill your grandfather if without him you could never be born?).

Kaku’s theory delves into alternate universes. Think of it this way: every time you make a choice there are mulitple possibilities for outcomes and multiple possibilities of other choices you could have made. The instant a choice is made multiple branches of our universe are born – whole parallel world’s with different choices and outcomes.

So, if you were to go back and time and meet your grandfather – according to Kaku’s theory – time would diverge and you would be meeting the grandfather of your alternate self.

So does that mean if we were to catch a time traveller on film the person wouldn’t just be from the future, but also an alternate universe? I mean if you can’t meet your own grandfather what is to say you could travel into your own past? Would it mean if I went back in time and killed Hitler the holocaust would still happen in my time, just not some alternate universe’s time?

So much for going back for last week’s winning lotto numbers.

Freedom of ignorance. Attack on Yellowknife Muslims by CBC commenters is disgusting.

I have been debating whether to write this post, but I am so appalled by the crap people choose to spout in the name of their right to free speech I have to vent.

It has been a week since CBC posted a story on its website about a depiction of the Prophet Muhammad glued to the door of the Islamic Centre in Yellowknife. First of all, CBC should be ashamed of itself for some of the comments it has allowed to stand and even more ashamed it has allowed the same hateful comments to continue for nearly a week.

Second, the people who have chosen this forum to spew their hateful remarks are among the most ignorant and racist I have seen in a long time. Freedom of speech is a right in this country but their should be a law that states: if you’re an ignorant sack of shit, you should not be allowed to speak or mash your ideas out on a keyboard.

Here we have a religious group whose place of worship was debased by a person with enough understanding of the religion to strike a chord. Is it a hate crime? Probably not. But it was definitely hateful. I don’t blame Nuir Ali for going to the police and if his reaction was severe that is also understandable. It amazes me some people have the audacity to cast the blame for this vandalism on the people whose property was vandalized.

The disgusting comments on CBC’s comment board demonstrate the bias Muslims in North America have to put up with on a daily basis. The comments calling every Muslim a terrorist come from people brainwashed by the media and U.S. wartime propaganda machine. Think about it; in times of war governments can’t have their people doubting the evil nature of the enemy so all are coloured with the same brush. People of all walks of life and races practise the religion which condemns millions of innocents to become victims of hate. My hope is these propaganda puppets are people too stupid to think for themselves; people whose travel experience consists of their trips from the trailer park to the liquor store. Sadly, that is likely not the case. I am sure a lot of decent and well-educated people have joined this hate-filled mob. I guess that’s what fear does to a person. Cowards love the mob, it frees them from responsibility.

I am not going to claim that I am an expert on the Quran or the Muslim faith. But my experiences have taught me that, as in any demographic, there are good people and bad people. Actually, the only Muslims I have seen who would fit the “evil-doer” label have been on TV.

I remember being on a bus in Malaysia. A friend and I were stuck in the worst traffic jam I have ever seen. It actually took us an hour to go a block. On this bus were three Muslim women, a mother and her two daughters. The eldest daughter was 19 and exotically beautifully (exotic from my western perspective anyway). I know all the ignorant fools out there are already confused. How could I tell what she looked like clad in her oppressive garb that hides her from public view. Oh wait, that’s cause not all Muslim women cover their faces. In fact, during a tour of a Mosque later in the week the man who showed us around explained that the Quran actually doesn’t say women should hide their faces. It only says they should wear modest clothing that covers to their hands and ankles as well as head scarves. It is by no means the only religion with such conservative beliefs. Try being a woman and getting into the Vatican wearing shorts or a tank top. There is also a passage in Corinthians (oh yeah that is the Christian Bible by the way) that says women should cover their heads during prayer. The man at the mosque added, apparel such as the all-shrouding burqa are tribal interpretations of the Quran.

The mother and eldest daughter on the bus wore headscarves while the youngest daughter wore jeans and a T-shirt. At first I thought they were from Canada or the U.S. because they spoke perfect and unaccented (to my Canadian ears) English. It turns out, however, they were Qatari (side-note Qatari is the greatest name for a people ever). Anyway, Qatar is among the more liberal Muslim nations (others being Jordan, UAE, Turkey, Kuwait and the list goes on). The eldest daughter, whose name escapes me now, was studying neurosurgery (hmm I guess Muslim women are allowed to be educated).

If we were to cast all peoples into the same basket as their extremist counterparts the world would fall into chaos. We would be too afraid or hateful of each other to get things done.

As much as I embrace our right to freedom of speech sometimes the things people choose to say makes me sick to my stomach. Maybe one day we will be better than animals.

Dissecting life: Dawn of a new medical age?

image of stem cell Human embryo revealing the inner cell mass. Photo: Wellcome Trust.

Today researchers in Atlanta, Georgia, announced they will begin the first known human trials of a therapy using embryonic stem cells. The goal of the treatment is to use the cells to help rebuild damaged nerve cells and thereby restore lost sensation and mobility in patients with spinal cord injuries.

The decision is not without controversy. Pro life and religious groups are against the use of embryonic stem cells because they are obtained through the destruction of a human embryo. The advantages of using embryonic cells is they are essentially a blank slate of life and have the ability to develop into virtually any cell type. They are also responsible for many healing functions within the body.

Researchers aligned with the religious right believe the same types of treatments can be achieved through the use of somatic (adult) stem cells. In fact there has been some success in coaxing somatic cells into stem-like cells. In one trial, skin cells from a mouse were transformed into nerve cells.

What I find interesting about this announcement is the lack of background in many of the stories I have read. Geron Corp., A biopharmaceutical company, has been pursuing this human trial for years. The corporation came under fire in 2005 when its peers questioned the speed in which Geron was hoping to bring the treatment to trial. The concern at the time was past experience has shown jumping from rodent testing to humans would, as one scientist was quoted saying, fail miserably. Unfortunately, the latest media reports don’t elaborate on the types of test Geron has done and if its early trials expanded beyond mice. Geron’s own information on its past testing only cites mice and rats as test subjects.

Frankly, I don’t have a lot of ethical concerns when it comes to stem cell research. Research for the medical applications of stem cell therapy has been promising. In the future because of this ground-breaking technology we might see cures to multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s and cancer. Ultimately, the lame might walk, the blind see and the deaf hear.

My only concern is when messing around with genetics it’s probably a good idea to take it slow, but slow doesn’t seem to be in Geron’s vocabulary. At the beginning of 2009 Geron won approval to begin human testing with this therapy. However, the clinical trials were delayed because in a later test group a higher frequency of cysts developed in animal subjects. All previous tests had shown “a very low frequency of injected animals developed microscopic cysts in the regenerating injury site,” according a 2009 Geron press release. Geron went on to say the cysts were not uncommon nor unusual adding, “Cysts of much larger size appear in the spinal cord scar tissue of up to 50% of patients with spinal cord injury.”

I believe if stem cell research can help us cure some of our most debilitating diseases then I am all for it. However, we need to ensure it is safe before we start using people as guinea pigs. Sorry, guinea pigs, I am all for shooting you up. Is the Geron product safe? Only time will tell.