THE NEW FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH

Recent scientific research is paving the way for people to live to 120, even 150 years. That is if gene research develops in the next two decades along predictable lines. People will be able to grow new hearts and livers, maybe even an arm and a leg, and maybe even a bunch of new brain cells.

How is this possible? Biologists have studied T-cells (totipotential) from the early blastula (one week) of a recent conception. Beyond the original fertilized egg the blastula is the most primitive human life form, and has T-cells which can develop into any and all human differentiated cells, cells of various organs. They start out undifferentiated, and then they differentiate in a normal gestation into all the tissues and organ systems that a living creature requires, such as bones and blood, spleens and kidneys, thyroids and adrenals, eyes and ears.

Theoretically, organs can be harvested from the growth of these cells, which can eventually be triggered into growing fresh cells for various replacement body parts and organs. So far sounds good, a bit surreal, a bit science-fiction? There has to be a rub. The environmentalists say you can't fool Mother Nature, but if you try, you will pay a price. The religious say you shouldn't tamper with God's will or creation. In this area the bioethicists are in a quandary. Those who are in favor of science and experimentation say go ahead. Those who feel that moral scruples are involved say wait, wait until we have examined all the possibilities, and try to judge whether they will be for good or evil.

When the details of the genetic work are revealed, eyebrows are raised. Since the government ordered a stop federally funded research involving human embryos, only privately funded research institutes are carrying on the work. They do so for the sake of basic science and helping people be healthy and live longer. Of course there is the potential for profits in providing a ready supply of fresh, young organs. The detail which is problematic is that some BOLD>human DNA

If you can follow a natural progression of this technology, human cloning will be possible in the not too distant future. The prospect seems both an abomination and happy alternative. Science has found yet another way to continue when death seemed the end of corporeal existence. If a human is cloned, which amounts to having an identical twin maybe 20 or 30 years younger, you might be able to see 'yourself' as a baby, growing up in a new environment.

Will the clone have memories of you? Will the clone look just like you, have the same expression, mannerisms and tone of voice, the same proclivities and aspirations? What about taste in clothes, or books and movies? Interestingly, separated identical twins show amazing likenesses and preferences, even to the taste in clothes and choice of spouses. Twin studies have shown that schizophrenia and manic-depression are largely genetic, inherited tendencies, along with many fine and subtle personality characteristics.

Granting for the moment that a human can be cloned from his/her DNA, this clone could be the basis of a landmark case-study of the effect of culture or environment on the developing personality. Are values, philosophy and ideology partly inherited, or is the newborn babe a virtual blank slate on which the family and society writes? Long range studies would include interviews and questionaires designed to determine similarities and differences in development, which would be all environmentally produced, because the genetic makeup of the two individuals would be identical. Such a study would contribute greatly if not resolve to a significant degree the nature-nurture controversy.

The poet said that only God can make a tree, but the question now seems to be, did God make the human to be able to clone him/herself, or should we stick to what we originally thought was God's plan and conclude that creating new life was only His providence? Some think that this new science is the work of the devil, and others think "What a piece of work is Man!," the creative being in God's image who was given curiosity about the world and the desire and intelligence to unravel some of its mysteries.

The pro-lifers will be against further such research, because to harvest these T-cells, actual human embryos will have to be sacrificed. These blastulas precede the early embryos which look like little fish, with fins, gills and tails, but they would normally develop into a human being if well planted and not interfered with.

Do you want to stop this research or do you want to have the option of getting new organs when your old ones die out? Would you like to have the option of having yourself cloned?

Dr Bloom is Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Wayne State University School of Medicine. He is a member of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis and on the editorial board of the Wayne County Medical Society. He welcomes comments at his email address--- vbloom@comcast.net.