{"id":1663714,"date":"2022-09-29T07:50:51","date_gmt":"2022-09-29T11:50:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1663714"},"modified":"2022-09-29T07:55:41","modified_gmt":"2022-09-29T11:55:41","slug":"federal-research-on-manipulating-brains-and-rewriting-dna-should-worry-us-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/federal-research-on-manipulating-brains-and-rewriting-dna-should-worry-us-all\/","title":{"rendered":"Federal Research On Manipulating Brains And Rewriting DNA Should Worry Us All"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffederal-research-on-manipulating-brains-and-rewriting-dna-should-worry-us-all%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1663714&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<p>The future of evolution is now in our hands. Or rather, the godlike power to alter biology rests in a few scientists\u2019 hands, and we\u2019re all going to pay for it, one way or another. The U.S. government is pouring billions of dollars into understanding genetics and the human brain, and most consequentially, how to manipulate those systems.<\/p>\n<p>Last week, the National Institutes of Health\u00a0(NIH) launched\u00a0its \u201cBRAIN 2.0\u201d initiative (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnology), ramping up an existing program started eight years ago. Comparable to the Human Genome Project in scope and scale, BRAIN 2.0 grants $600 million to fully map our 86 billion neurons and their uncounted connections. The project is expected to reach a grand total cost of $5 billion by 2026.<\/p>\n<p>In theory, once scientists have created this detailed brain atlas\u00a0<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/topics\/medicine-and-dentistry\/in-silico\">in silico<\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>they can directly alter neural function using digital devices. The director of the BRAIN Initiative, John Ngai, exhibits a troubling fixation on this method.<\/p>\n<p>In a recent interview with\u00a0Stat News, Ngai noted two concrete results of his current neuro-mapping efforts. One is an advanced brain-computer interface \u2014 implanted last year\u00a0at the University of California, San Francisco \u2014 that allows for astounding thought-to-text communication. The other is a major breakthrough in deep brain stimulation at Baylor University, where electrodes are implanted to alter mood and behavior, relieving\u00a0depression\u00a0and\u00a0obsessive-compulsive disorder.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Ngai\u2019s cyborg obsession is shared by his close government partner, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), where \u201cman-computer symbiosis\u201d has been a longstanding paradigm. The defense agency\u2019s involvement in the BRAIN Initiative is\u00a0open and well documented. However, beyond the NIH\u2019s declared mission to heal, our top military minds also have a deep interest in human enhancement.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDARPA has been a pioneer in brain-machine interface technology since the 1970s, but we began investing heavily in the early 2000s,\u201d\u00a0boasted\u00a0Justin Sanchez, the director of DARPA\u2019s Biological Technologies Office. \u201cWe\u2019ve laid the groundwork for a future in which advanced brain interface technologies will transform how people live and work.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This transformation involves neural implants, to an extent, but also non-invasive devices, such as wearable neuro-bands or skull caps.\u00a0\u201cImagine what will become possible when we upgrade our tools to really open the channel between the human brain and modern electronics,\u201d\u00a0said\u00a0DARPA program manager Phillip Alvelda, whose goals include \u201cBridging the Bio-Electronic Divide\u201d and developing a \u201cHigh-Resolution, Implantable Neural Interface.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If successful, the atlas created by BRAIN 2.0 will be a crucial bridge across this \u201cbio-electronic divide.\u201d The neural territory will be mapped and ready to conquer.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2>\u2018The Century of Engineered Biology\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>This mad quest to alter basic biology extends all the way down to the genome. Two weeks ago, the White House announced that $2 billion will go to reshaping life as we know it by way of the\u00a0National Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Initiative. \u201cWe need to develop genetic engineering technologies and techniques,\u201d the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/presidential-actions\/2022\/09\/12\/executive-order-on-advancing-biotechnology-and-biomanufacturing-innovation-for-a-sustainable-safe-and-secure-american-bioeconomy\/#:~:text=We%20need%20to%20develop%20genetic,artificial%20intelligence%3B%20and%20advance%20the\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">executive order<\/a> reads, \u201cto be able to write circuitry for cells and predictably program biology in the same way in which we write software and program computers.\u201d Another $1 billion will go toward creating the\u00a0Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health\u00a0(ARPA-H), with a full $6.5 billion requested for its \u201chigh-risk, high-reward\u201d projects.<\/p>\n<p>Last Wednesday, the new agency\u2019s inaugural director, Renee Wegrzyn,\u00a0reminded\u00a0her colleagues that humans now have the ability to alter DNA at will. But because gene-editing technologies such as\u00a0CRISPR\u00a0have become so inexpensive and widespread, she warned, the specters of accidental pathogens or intentional bioweapons pose a grave threat to humankind.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re ushering in the century of engineered biology,\u201d Wegrzyn declared with a weird fake-smile, \u201cwhether it\u2019s through gene-editing, or it\u2019s through engineering of living medicines that will be in our gut \u2014 or in soil to promote fertilization and growth, especially as we face challenges like climate change.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>What else does this \u201ccentury of engineered biology\u201d hold in store? According to Wegrzyn, a former DARPA program manager, this revolution will usher in\u00a0\u201chuman-machine convergence\u201d and the creation of \u201cHuman 2.0.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese are things that are somewhere on the horizon,\u201d she\u00a0told\u00a0the Long Now Foundation in 2017, \u201cthat genome engineering and gene-editing will be a part of. So how do we make sure we can pursue this future in a safe manner?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Taking up the transhumanist torch, Wegrzyn lauded \u201cdefensive enhancement,\u201d citing the example of mass vaccination to enhance our immune systems. She also addressed \u201coffensive enhancement,\u201d such as improvements in human \u201cperformance\u201d and \u201ccognitive state.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s evolution on steroids,\u201d she said flippantly, \u201cnow in our control.\u201d With a strange chuckle, she assured the audience that \u201cwe\u2019re solidly on the defensive side.\u201d If that\u2019s the case, her DARPA projects were outliers at the agency.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Thinking about that\u00a0culture of radical enhancement\u00a0partnered with the vaccine-crazy NIH, it\u2019s easy to imagine a dark future of increasingly unhinged \u201csafe and effective\u201d campaigns. The creation of ARPA-H appears to be an official marriage of the military-industrial complex to the biomedical establishment, with BRAIN 2.0 standing by the altar like a ring-bearing stepchild.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2>Federally Funded Transhumanism\u00a0<\/h2>\n<p>Various\u00a0skeptics, myself\u00a0included, call this federally funded\u00a0transhumanism\u00a0for good reason. The resonance is obvious. In his \u201cLetter to Mother Nature,\u201d penned in 1999, the OG transhumanist Max More declared humanity\u2019s freedom from our natural inheritance:\u00a0<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>Through genetic alterations, cellular manipulations, synthetic organs, and any necessary means, we will endow ourselves with enduring vitality and remove our expiration date. \u2026 Not content with that, we will seek complete choice of our bodily form and function, refining and augmenting our physical and intellectual capabilities beyond any human in history. \u2026 While we pursue mastery of our own biochemistry, we will increasingly integrate our advancing technologies into our selves.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>We\u2019ve entered a bizarre era where sculpting human brains and bodies \u2014 and the underlying genes \u2014 may soon be as commonplace as nose jobs and genetically modified tomatoes are today. The crucial decision to move from healing to enhancement is just over the horizon, and your tax dollars are laying the foundation.<\/p>\n<p>Today, it\u2019s\u00a0selective abortions\u00a0and smartphone-symbiosis. Tomorrow, it will be designer babies and wearable brain-computer interfaces. To their credit, both Renee Wegrzyn and John Ngai have said we need public debates about how far we go with these technologies. Up till now, all we\u2019ve seen are trans children, cringy metaverse ads, and vaccine mandates.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe you\u2019re enthusiastic about our transhuman trajectory. Or maybe, like me, you\u2019re appalled by the hubris behind it. My purpose here is not to convince you of which position to take.<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s important is that you\u2019re thinking about where we\u2019re at, right now, and where these efforts to rewrite DNA and irradiate brains are going. To the extent our voices are heard, we have to insist on making our own plans for the future \u2014 because regardless of our opinions, reckless technocrats are busy making those plans for us.\u00a0<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">\n  Joe Allen is a fellow primate who wonders why we ever came down from the trees. He studied religion and science at the University of Tennessee and Boston University. Find him at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.joebot.xyz\/\">www.joebot.xyz<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/joebotxyz\">@JOEBOTxyz<\/a>.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The future of evolution is now in our hands. Or rather, the godlike power to alter biology rests in a few scientists\u2019 hands, and we\u2019re all going to pay for<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1398,"featured_media":1663718,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1663714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1663714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1398"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1663714"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1663714\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1663718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1663714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1663714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1663714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}