lder the pituitary gland begins to produce a hormone which blocks the actions of the thyroidhormone, thus causing the body to age and eventually die. If Denckla's theory is correct,conquering aging would simply be a process of altering the pituitary's DNA so it would never beallowed to release the aging hormone. In the years to come, genetic engineering may finallydefeat the most unbeatable enemy in the world, time (Stableford 94). The morale and safety questions surrounding genetic engineering currently cause this newscience to be cast in a false light. Anti-technologists and political extremists spread falseinterpretation of facts coupled with statements that genetic engineering is not natural and defiesthe natural order of things. The morale question of biotechnology can be answered by studyingwhere the evolution of man is, and where it is leading our society. The safety question can beanswered by examining current safety precautions in industry, and past safety records of manybioengineering projects already in place.The evolution of man can be broken up into three basic stages. The first, lasting millionsof years, slowly shaped human nature from Homo erectus to Home sapiens. Natural selectionprovided the means for countless random mutations resulting in the appearance of such humancharacteristics as hands and feet. The second stage, after the full development of the humanbody and mind, saw humans moving from wild foragers to an agriculture based society. Naturalselection received a helping hand as man took advantage of random mutations in nature and bredmore productive species of plants and animals. The most bountiful wheats were collected andre-planted, and the fastest horses were bred with equally faster horses. Even in our recenthistory the strongest black male slaves were mated with the hardest working female slaves. Thethird stage, still developing today, will not require the chance acquisition of super-mutations innature. Man ...
