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Human enhancement is the concept of applying science and technologies to expand cognitive and physical human capacities. Technologies for human enhancement that promise smarter children, faster and stronger athletes, more attractive physical features, and improved sexual performance are highly seductive. Today, we are bombarded by messages that reinforce the notion that enhancements via drugs, dietary supplements, and cosmetic surgery are readily accessible for personal self-improvement, so that there is no longer a reason to remain “ordinary.” Indeed, a recent editorial in Nature proclaimed that “By the end of this century the unenhanced body or mind may well be vanishing rare.”
For many, enhancements promised by new and more powerful technologies will be seen as a logical extension of what is commonplace today, and it will be increasingly difficult to draw a clear line between their uses for therapeutic purposes and their use for enhancement.
Human enhancement research and technologies offer many unprecedented opportunities and just as many unforeseen challenges to society’s view of human performance. To identify those opportunities and challenges, the AAAS Program on Scientific Freedom, Responsibility and Law convened a workshop in June 2006 involving scientists, ethicists, industry representatives, legal scholars, and policy analysts.
The project was intended to generate insights, perspective, and to contribute to more informed public deliberations on the technical, ethical, and public policy issues surrounding human enhancement. Some of the issues highlighted at the AAAS workshop related to individual choice, allocation of resources, fairness, justice, dignity, and the quality of life, all of which will undoubtedly shape professional and public discourse on human enhancement and options for public policy. One specific outcome of the project was a list of recommendations from meeting participants of next steps AAAS might consider in its role as an association committed to “advancing science, serving society.” The Summary Report of the meeting, entitled "Good, Better, Best: The Human Quest for Enhancement," concludes with several of those recommendations, and we plan to continue our involvement in these important issues.
Funding for this project was provided by the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, and Genentech.
Invitational Workshop, June 1-2, 2006
Agenda | Attendees | June 2006 News Article | Summary Report | Scientific Overview
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