While machinery intends to make tools to empower man, biotechnology wants to transform man himself, to precisely fit him to the earth. Commonly put, biotechnology is the study of advances carried out in the biological sciences, only concerning the learning of lineages and its application. Biotechnology has helped improve food quality, quantity and processing. It still has applications in manufacturing, where simple cells and proteins can be manipulated to produce chemicals. But biotechnology is extremely important for its implications in health and medicine. Through genetic engineering–the controlled alteration of genetic material–scientists have been able to create new medicines, including interferon for cancer patients, synthetic human improvement hormone and synthetic insulin, among others. In recent years, scientists have further attempted to employ the methods of genetic engineering to improve specific inherited conditions, and have been making great strides in their ability to manipulate genetic materials. These advances suggest the prospect of human control over the very genetic makeup of man, and therefore the ability to manipulate our inherited traits. The consequences of man’s growing power over human lineages are enormous, and they become continually more immediate each day. Many observers have suggested that just as the late 20th century has been the age of computer technology, so the early 21st century will be the age of biotechnology. But how can we be sure that this new power will be used exactly? How much control should individuals be allowed to exercise over the genetic makeup of their children? How much do we want to know about our own genetic tendencies or dispositions? How will society be affected if we come close to actually answering the age old nature-versus-nurture question? What are the implications of human cloning? How can we ensure that the sanctity of human life is safeguarded in an age when genetic manipulation and scientific eugenics are possible? Can society exercise some control over the uses of biotechnology, or allow the genetic genie to permanently escaped its bottle? These are the questions opened up for society by the expansion and improvement of biotechnology.
