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The
Times, London
Sunday, October 17, 2004
LONDON
- Scientists have discovered a way of manipulating a gene that turns animals
into drones that do not become bored with repetitive tasks. The experiments,
conducted on monkeys, are the first to demonstrate that animal behaviour can
be permanently changed, turning the subjects from aggressive to
"compliant" creatures.
The
genes are identical in humans and although the discovery could help to treat
depression and other types of mental illness, it will raise images of the
Epsilon caste from Aldous Huxley's futuristic novel Brave New World.
The
experiments -- detailed in the journal Nature Neuroscience this month --
involved blocking the effect of a gene called D2 in a particular part of the
brain. This cut off the link between the rhesus monkeys' motivation and
reward.
Instead
of speeding up with the approach of a deadline or the prospect of a
"treat," the monkeys in the experiment could be made to work just
as enthusiastically for long periods. The scientists say the identical
technique would apply to humans.
"Most
people are motivated to work hard and well only by the expectation of reward,
whether it's a paycheque or a word of praise," said Barry Richmond, a
government neurobiologist at the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health,
who led the project. "We found we could remove that link and create a
situation where repetitive, hard work would continue without any
reward."
The
experiments involved getting rhesus monkeys to operate levers in response to
colour changes on screens in front of them. Normally they work hardest and
fastest with the fewest mistakes if they think a reward for the
"work" is imminent.
However,
Mr. Richmond's team found that they could make the monkeys work their hardest
and fastest all the time, without any complaint or sign of slacking, just by
manipulating D2 so that they forgot about the expectation of reward.
The
original purpose of the research was to find ways of treating mental illness,
but the technicalities of permanently altering human behaviour by gene
manipulation are currently too complex, he said.
However,
he and other scientists acknowledge that methods of manipulating human
physical and psychological traits are just around the corner, and the
technology will emerge first as a lucrative add-on available from in vitro
fertilization clinics.
"There's
no doubt we will be able to influence behaviour," said Julian Savulescu,
a professor of ethics at Oxford University.
"Genetically
manipulating people to become slaves is not in their interests, but there are
other changes that might be. We have to make choices about what makes a good
life for an individual."
In
a presentation at a Royal Society meeting titled Designing Babies: What the
Future Holds, Yuri Verlinsky, a scientist from the University of Chicago who
is at the forefront of embryo manipulation, said: "As infertility
customers are investing so much time, money and effort into having a baby,
shouldn't they have a healthy one and what is to stop them picking a baby for
its physical and psychological traits?"
Gregory
Stock, author of Redesigning Humans and an ethics specialist from the
University of California, agrees.
"I
don't think these kind of interventions are exactly round the corner, they
are a few years away, but I don't think they are going to be stopped by
legislation," he said.
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