This article examines public fears and ethical concerns about genetic modification from an evolutionary perspective, exploring the necessity of change.
Genetic modification is a topic that is very familiar to the public, as it has been the subject of numerous science fiction movies in recent years. Unlike gene therapy, which is a similar concept, genetic enhancement is the enhancement of a specific human form or function beyond what is necessary to restore or maintain health, and as such, it has gained a lot of exposure in the media, sparking the imagination of what is yet to come. The examples of genetic modification in movies, novels, and other popular media make it more interesting, but they also exaggerate and mislead. In these media, genetic modification is often linked to moral and ethical issues, creating dramatic conflict, which helps to reinforce negative public perceptions. However, it is undeniable that the majority of popular media portray genetic modification of humans in a negative light, and that there is a wary and taboo atmosphere that pervades society. Underlying these negative perceptions are concerns based on beliefs about the enormity of the changes that genetic modification can bring. However, there is room to address these vague concerns from an evolutionary perspective, which is highly credible in the scientific community.
First of all, the public’s general concern about genetic modification is about the side effects of unknowingly and directly intervening in the genes, the master switch of human life. This concern is based on the enormity of the changes that genetic modification implies. The changes that genetic modification can produce in areas such as intelligence, fitness, morality, and personality are much larger and more rapid than those that can be achieved through traditional non-genetic methods. People believe that these rapid changes are difficult to control and can have unpredictable consequences, leading to concerns about the social and ethical implications of genetic modification. Not to mention the social ramifications of genetic modification. Massive changes are less controllable than incremental changes, where the process and outcome can be adjusted over time. People are afraid of massive changes through genetic modification because of the fear of unforeseen consequences.
However, rapid and massive change is already a fact of life in the modern era, as reflected in regular news topics such as globalization, the fourth industrial revolution, and environmental protection, which have been and are expected to continue to be major changes in various aspects of modern life, including politics, society, culture, economy, and the natural environment. In fact, human history itself has been a series of constant changes. Innovations representing each era, such as the Agricultural Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, and the Digital Revolution, have radically changed human life. Through these changes, humans have adapted to new environments in order to survive and thrive. And change has been going on for as long as there has been history, not just the current era, but all of human history and the history of the universe.
However, what makes the current era unique is that it is characterized by a greater degree of “relative change” than any previous era. In the context of evolutionary theory, relative change is the difference between the rate at which the environment is changing and the rate at which a particular species within the environment is changing. As with all living things, humans have gradually adapted their biology to their environment through the process of natural selection, which allows the most adapted individuals to survive and reproduce. However, it’s important to note that biological changes based on genetic alterations take a very long time. Emerging on a planet that has been formed and stabilized for hundreds of millions of years, prehistoric humans had millions of years to make biological and genetic adaptations to their hunter-gatherer environment. These genetic changes take a long time, so there are limits to their ability to adapt to rapid environmental changes. Humans have developed civilization and technology to overcome these limitations, but a new tool called genetic modification holds the promise of adapting faster and more effectively.
However, the building of human civilization, which began with the Agricultural Revolution about 10,000 years ago, radically altered the living environment to which we had adapted for millions of years, and the rate at which the environment is changing is now far outpacing the rate at which we are changing biologically. The wider the relative scope of this change, the more problems it creates.
A typical example of this is diseases that threaten human health, and the medical community believes that humans have created infectious diseases and chronic diseases that threaten human health by artificially changing the living environment. In the process of restoring the ecological balance between bacteria and humans through domestication and agriculture, humans were exposed to new pathogens, and the densification of the population through urbanization facilitated their transmission, resulting in infectious diseases. In addition, due to the transition from hunter-gatherer to civilized society and industrialization, chronic diseases such as hyperglycemia, hypertension, heart disease, and cancer have arisen due to the mismatch and maladaptation between human genes that are still specialized for hunter-gatherer environments and the new living environment. Genetic changes cannot keep up with the rapidly changing living environment, including new pathogens, lifestyles, and chemicals, through conventional natural selection.
Moreover, changes in modern society are not limited to health issues. Technological advances, such as the digital revolution, are also requiring major changes in our cognitive abilities and the way we process information. To adapt to these changes, education and training alone may not be enough, and it is necessary to seek more fundamental changes through genetic modification. The living environment of modern society is changing rapidly not only in the realm of health, but also in the socioeconomic and environmental spheres, as evidenced by the keywords globalization, the fourth industrial revolution, and environmental protection, which include international conflicts, the emergence of AI, and the destruction of natural environments for which our genes are specialized in the hunter-gatherer era. Our living environment is already undergoing massive and rapid change, and it would be foolish to avoid massive genetic change for fear of adverse effects. For living things, the harmony between genes and environment is essential for survival. There are no best genes. There are only optimal genes. As the environment changes, the genes change, and when the environment changes drastically, the genes change drastically. From this perspective, genetic improvement can be seen as a natural evolutionary response to the changes facing humanity. Through genetic improvement, we will be able to create healthier, more intelligent, and more adaptable humans.
After all, evolution has no absolute direction, only the immediate goal of harmonizing genes with the environment. The public is vaguely afraid of massive genetic change because of the uncertainty of the outcome, but from an evolutionary perspective, there is no more reliable guide for genetic change than the environment. Perhaps the acceleration of the evolutionary process through genetic improvement is not a choice but a necessity given the rapidly changing living environment of the present era.
