Teilhard de Chardin’s oeuvre within an ongoing discussion of a gene drive release for public health reasons

Abstract

Within the domain of public health, vector-borne diseases are among the most vehemently discussed issues. Recent scientific breakthroughs in genome editing technology provided a solution to this issue in the form of a gene drive that might decrease and even eradicate vector-borne diseases. Gene drives are engineered, and designed genes that can break typical inheritance rules and be passed to almost all of the carrier’s offspring. This genome editing and gene drive technology has become a powerful tool for ecological and environmental engineering, through which man can manipulate his surroundings, adjusting it to himself and directly mastering evolution and the ecosystem. Although the gene drive technology has been perceived as promising in the public health domain, ecological implications of its use are not to be underestimated. The primary aim of this paper is to overcome the ongoing discussion which mostly focuses on whether priority should be given to the environment or to public health, and to find an adequate answer and solution. In this quest to find the proper answer and solution, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin’s thought might be useful, especially his concepts of the biosphere and the noosphere which may provide some clarifications as to why we are at the moment so cautious with gene drive technology and how we need to move towards a better common future on earth.

Psychoanalysing Technoscience

“…Discontent in technoscience may also arise inside the system. One noteworthy symptom, Lacan argues -speaking in 1974, during the heydays of recombinant DNA research, when Nobel Prize laureate Paul Berg published his famous letter in Science on "biohazards" of technoscience (Berg et al, 1974) -, is that scientific research itself becomes an "impossible profession" (1960/1974/2005cf. Freud, 1925cf.…”

The Ebb and Flow of Science and Religion Relationship in Affecting Human Life

“…In the material world, the aspect of spirituality still exists. Science is related to the material world, so science still has aspects of spirituality 39 see also Sara Lumbreras 40 Religion is considered irrelevant to the advancement of human lives in different ages. There has been a shift from a belief in religion to believing in science.…”

Can the Thought of Teilhard de Chardin Carry Us Past Current Contentious Discussions of Gene Editing Technologies?

“…31 He sees the Earth as a New Earth that needs to be constructed. 32 The construction, according to Teilhard, does not imply our rule over nature, but denotes the responsible construction of a future for humanity. Teilhard was not formally an ethicist, but according to Grau, his way of understanding moral dimensions can be labeled as a morality of movement.…”