Emily Wangsa Putra

Final Paper

UCOR 3410

June 9th 2015

 The Declarations of War Against Nature

Paul Davies once says, “Science is knowledge and knowledge is power –

power to do good or evil.” We do lives in the twelfth centuries where there are many

developments and researches about how to make the world a better place to live, a

place where there are no diseases and problems. People yearn for a perfect world.

Therefore, human beings are motivated on expanding their knowledge. With the

problem that humanity is facing right now, such as genetic diseases, mutated genes,

incurable diseases, and fertility, researchers and scientist are driven to explore the

power of technology. We have heard about the technologies such as in vitro

fertilization (IVF), DNA modification through CRISP, and tissue engineering (stem

cells). Even though we are living in a world that there is no physical war, but the

developments and researches that humanity are doing at this moment could be

indicated as declarations of war towards the work of nature. We are in a war with

the nature. Humanity is trying to fight against the nature and the fate of human

beings. However, we all learned that through the Newton’s third law of motion,

where there is an action, there would always be a reaction; therefore, there are

always consequences on every actions that are being done. People are driven to do

better and to grow. Nonetheless, is it truly a better life that we are trying to achieve?

Or are humans destroying the world and them selves through the knowledge that

they are chasing? Therefore, people should identify all the technologies that they are

doing right now, such as: IVP, sperm sorting, DNA modification, and tissue

engineering, and how humanities are fighting against their moral, conscience,
humanism, law and order of the nature, and crown them selves as the ruler over

nature.

There are many declarations that humans have made to fight the nature. The

first declaration is by ignoring the moral, conscience and humanism that is shown

through IVF or In Vitro Fertilization. This technology has been used commonly

nowadays, which make people think that this technology is harmless. The purpose

of IVP is to help 17infertility cases that people are facing. 17Smelik in her article

explains the procedure of IVF. She discussed how the process starts with a hormone

therapy in order to produce egg cells at the same time. Then, when the egg cells

matured, it will be monitored and harvested using a hollow needle. After that, it will

be fertilized in a petri dish, and one or two embryos will be put into the uterus. The

other embryos will be kept frozen or disposed. This technology helps marriage

couples to achieve their dream of a family. In other words, IVF gives people hopes.

On the other side, the discovery of IVF is also an open door to other technology such

as sperm sorting and savior sibling. Nature stated that there would be no way that

humanity could fight the infertility, the possibility of not having the right gender for

their children, or even 10sex-linked diseases. However, the scientists and researches

proved the nature wrong. Through the technology and knowledge that people

developed, they found a way to counter those statements. Humanity proves there

are still hopes to overrule the nature. This is indeed humanity first declaration

against the nature.

Even though IVF gives human beings hope for a family that they want, people

do not see the other effects that IVF causes. If we look back to this procedure, the
final step is to keep the embryos frozen or dispose it. However, can we disregard the

other “unchosen” embryos? In the 8article of “What Happens To Extra Embryos

After IVF?,” the author emphasizes that there are consequences that people need to

bear when they decided to do IVF. Through the 8survey that is done, only 20% of the

couples that decided to keep their embryos “frozen indefinitely.” The other options

are donate it for research or to other couple, thawing it, and some of them are still

undecided. However, 8Petok states that undecided is also a decision as the clinic is

the one who is being responsible with the embryos. 8Anne Drapkin Lyerly, a

professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Duke University Medical Center says,

“when you’re pouring your money, your heart, and your soul into creating an

embryo and creating a life, the last thing you want to think about is how you’re

going to dispose of it.” Whether we want to admit it or not, those embryos are alive.

Therefore, the effect of this technology affects our conscience and moral as human

beings. Those who keep their embryos are trying to free themselves from the guilt of

following their own desire to have children and fighting against nature. As a result,

they bear the consequence to pay for the 8embryos to be storage for indefinitely. IVF

does gives hope to many people, but it also ruins people conscience because it

blinded them to achieve their desire without considering other possibility that they

should kill the other “unchosen” embryos. It is clear that the humans’ desires are

driven us to go beyond the boundaries that are set by the nature.

The second declaration of war is by carrying a new law and order to repeal

the nature’s system, and it is reflected through the research and experiment about

DNA modification. 15The purpose of this research is simply to modify and fix the
genetic code (DNA). Through this new founding of technology, people who suffered

genetic disorders or mutated genes could be healed by fixing the 13,15misplaced

letters in their DNA. This new method and research is discovered and leaded by

Chinese researcher, 13Junjiu Huang; the technique that they used is called

CRISPR.4,13,15This technique is actually used by bacteria to remember, identify, and

kill their enemy by cutting off the specific section of the DNA. Through this new

founding technology, the scientists are trying to cut off the DNA codes that cause the

diseases. At this moment, they are experimenting on abnormal, 4,15non-viable

embryos that are created through in-vitro fertilization; at this moment, their trial

focused on the blood disorder 𝛽-thalassemia. Despite the result that is not

satisfying, the possibility that we could make a genetically modified human is very

possible. This is supported by 4George Daley, a stem cell biologist from Harvard

Medical School. He states, “their study should be a stern warning to any practitioner

who thinks the technology is ready for testing to eradicate disease genes.” This is

indeed a very serious warning against nature.

Nowadays, people are driven with the ambitions of improve and achieve

greater things. The scientists show that through the founding of this modification of

DNA, they hope that they could cure many genetic diseases and help people. Even

though maybe the purpose of this technology is great, but this shows how people do

not accept imperfectness in human beings. The world that is growing to become

better and better expect 13perfection for its residents. Therefore, the competition

between each individuals are prompting us with the ability to fix and patch the

imperfectness that people has. As 11Harraway says in her book, “…we find ourselves
to e cyborg, hybrids, mosaics, chimeras,” people struggle to survive in the world

competition, and these technologies are creating a genetic modified human being; a

creation that people could control, fix, and carve according to their desires.

Nevertheless, it becomes unclear whether human already crossed the boundary of

nature or not. With people are not satisfied with the work of the nature, they try to

produces cyborg that is against the work of Mother Nature. Could we consider those

babies that will be going through the DNA modification as a human being? If we

consider about the future that we will be facing, this technology is taking us to a

world where all the people who live only care about achieving perfection and

disposing imperfection. The world where there will be no grace towards people

with deficiency. Moreover, this issue will also create discrimination towards people.

How? With the technology that we could change and manipulate DNA, 13people from

wealthy background have more chances to have this privilege, yet people who do

not have the capability to purchase this technology will automatically lose. 8Marcy

Darnovsky, a doctor from Center for Genetics and Society in the US, also states that

genetic diseases can actually be prevented through embryo screening techniques.

People are driven with the ideas of finding something spectacular for the world and

ignoring the act that this founding could affect 8ethical issues and the safety of

human beings. Human are planning to overrule the nature by creating a new law

and order of the nature in their own hands. In other words, humanity wants to

improve and transform the world and them selves to more superior. For that

reason, we should question our selves whether this step to fight against the nature

is taking us towards a better future or bringing us to a misery.

 The last declaration of war that human state is they want to overrule the

work of the nature by becoming god. One of the actions that indicate this statement

is the research about tissue engineering. Tissue engineering is a technology 1cells

are used to be the donor that will be implanted or expanded in the host. In the

recent 14research in Japan by stem cell biologist, Takanori Takebe, they find a way to

grow a liver buds in an embryonic state from the stem cells that are taken from

human skins. At this moment, 6the scientists also could develop the most

“complicated structures” of an organ, which is the brain. 6Only needing the

embryonic stem cells or adult skin cells, brain and its spinal cord could be created

through this technology. Basically, “the cells were able to grow and organize

themselves into separate regions of the brain, such as the cerebral cortex, the retina,

and rarely, and early hippocampus, which would be heavily involved in memory in a

fully developed adult brain,” states by Gallagher. On other words, scientists could

create an organ of a human beings that are only could be created by nature. The

purpose behind the creation of this brain is to help the diseases such as

schizophrenia or autism. However, the overall purpose of making organs is for

people who need organ transplant and could not find the right donor. On this

twelfth century, human could create things that used to be created only by nature.

This last technology that shows the declaration of the war with the nature is

actually based upon a great purpose that give people hope when they want to find

organ transplants. However, we do not think about the other effect of this new

founding. 17This technology makes the boundaries in traditional binary ways

blurred as the growth of postmodernism challenge human being to think beyond

what we have right now. As the work of the nature is prevented, the population of

human will be unbalanced since the natural elimination is also prevented. On the

other side, as people try to prevent death and prolong the life of human, they also

start to place them selves above the nature. Human become their own god.

Moreover, tissue engineering is creating an organ out of stem cell. This indicates

that human could create another human out of cells. Therefore, it is not only a

11hybrid of technology and human being, but it is a complete robot that is created as

a deceit of human. With human placed themselves as their own god, this creates a

big question about the line within passing the boundaries of the nature. As a result,

the argument whether people still need the work of the nature or not comes out.

There is no dependency from human to nature anymore. Thus, if nature is

prevented to do its jobs, then people are playing God.

In conclusion, human are declaring their war against nature. Firstly, people

are being ignorance to the effect of the technology to their own moral and

conscience. Human only want to follow their own desires and overlook the

consequences of their action. They are acting indifferent towards the consequences

of what to do with the embryos that are not chosen through In Vitro Fertilization.

Secondly, human beings are trying to revoke the law and order of the nature where

people are created with many flawlessness and imperfectness. People want to

achieve perfection, and they are trying to create a world where those deficiencies of

human being could be mold and sculpt. Humanity wants to create an ideal world

where they could not tolerate inadequacy, a world without mercy and grace

towards imperfection. Thirdly, human beings play as God and take over the work of
the nature as they could create something that the nature could only create before.

Therefore, people already crossed the boundaries of the nature where the work of

the nature is not needed anymore. There are two possible chance of the post

modernism through technologies.; it is either it lead humanity for a better future or

the destruction of human beings. However, there is no way for us to have a straight

line between good and bad. Thus, we should raise our awareness towards all of the

chances, whether it is beneficial or destructing, so that we could prevent the

destruction of the human being. It is not a simple matter that we should overlook

because even if we want to ignore the consequences, the problem will not go away.

In my opinion, technologies are indeed a knowledge that could lead us to have

power over nature. However, most of the time people are abusing this power for

their own benefit in order for them to achieve their desires. As a result, the

technologies that are created to be a helping hand for humanity end up destroying

the moral, conscience, humanism, and the nature it self. Without we are realizing,

the declarations of war that we are created are actually pointing back toward us,

humanity. For that reason, it is a challenge for us whether we want to ignore these

problems or open our eyes and be conscious about this bomb that is ready to self-

destruct ourselves. The time is still ticking!

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