Marguerite
Finn
Yesterday I received my
copy of the New World magazine from the United Nations Association. The theme of this issue was ‘Can Technology
Save the World?’ Initially, I thought
the editors would answer the question in the affirmative – there being so many
wonderful advancements in science and technology. One development that was mentioned in New World was the
arrival of test tube meat. Apparently a
team of Dutch scientists is very close to producing edible, lab-generated meat
– with a product-launch planned for Spring 2013. If this happens, it will be at
just the right time because the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimated that
the global demand for meat will double in the next 40 years. The global population is, after all, heading
for nine billion and because of rising standards of living – especially in Asia
– more and more people are demanding meat to eat.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO),
livestock already account for 20% of greenhouse gas emissions, 10% of the
world’s fresh water supplies and around half of all agricultural land. So producing meat the way we do now is
unsustainable.
How would we get on with artificial meat – also known as in
vitro meat, cultured meat or test tube meat ? In vitro meat should not be confused with vegetarian
foods such as Quorn sausages and other products. Most meat is animal muscle. The process of developing in vitro
meat involves taking muscle cells from an animal and applying a protein that
helps the cells to grow into large portions of meat. Once the cells have been
obtained, additional animals would not be needed. As of 2012, thirty
laboratories around the world have announced that they are working on research
into artificial meat. Scientists have to make the product profitable for
corporations in order for them to take this emerging technology into
consideration and to invest in it. The
challenge will be finding an industrial process, rather than a scientific
process to make in vitro meat cheaper than conventional meat. Assuming that the proper materials are used
and conditions remain ideal, two months of in vitro meat production
could deliver up to 50,000 tons of meat from ten pork muscle cells. So, is it a technological challenge worth
pursuing? Will it be enough to stave
off food poverty in the coming decades as the world’s population increases
relentlessly.
Another technological ‘miracle’ is the fact that on-demand
organ transplants have moved a step closer. Scientists have for the first time
successfully engineered a synthetic kidney - a break through that could have
massive benefits those waiting for donor organs. Scientists led by Harald Ott
of the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston created the synthetic kidney
using an existing bioengineering process that has previously been used in the
manufacture of artificial windpipes and in successful human transplants. Dr Ott is quoted as saying “ In an ideal
world, such grafts could be produced on demand from a patients own cells,
helping us overcome both the organ shortage and the need for chronic
immunosuppression” (Independent 14
April 2013).
It is estimated that some 100,000 people in the United States are waiting
for a donor kidney. The above research will not yield a viable organ for human
transplantation for a number of years yet, but the techniques used here are
incredibly promising for future research and point to one day reaching the goal
of being able to quickly manufacture new organs for those in need, something
that could save countless lives.
Greater understanding of genetics and micro-organisms is changing the
nature of medicine.
These are just two examples of wonderful developments in
science and technology – but are they going to create a better world for its
inhabitants? Not necessarily so. On issues that require far-reaching
compromises, short-term and nationalistic preferences tend to dominate. For instance, Monsanto’s development of
specially coated anti-drought seeds did not really benefit those who needed the
benefit most: the small farmers of India.
“It seems increasingly obvious, as the third millennium evolves, that we
must adapt to the likelihood that environmental, health, security and resource
problems will persist at a threatening level. Each of these technological developments could be used to magnify
the repressive power of governments to create new instruments of harm. For all
the euphemistic correctness in ministries of “defence” no security system
spurns the construction of offensive capability. Technology itself, in the
electronic, nanotechnology and cyber fields, has become an instrument of
military power.” (UNA-UK New World, Spring 2013)
In fact, the whole advance of science and technology
requires a context of effective regulation and supervision, as well as good
government and international co-operation – rather than a complacent feeling
that we can do as we like because technology will save the planet.
One thing that will save the planet is some form of
population control. There are just too
many of us on this earth and our numbers are increasing to unsustainably. 2013 is predicted to see the biggest baby
boom in the UK in 40 years. Nobody can
work out the reason for this but adding an extra generation of consumers to an
over-burdened planet does not seem the best way of going about things. Earlier, I mentioned the countless lives
that organ growing would save, but wouldn’t this make the overpopulation even
more dire?
Martin Luther King had some wise words to say about population:
"Unlike plagues of the dark ages or contemporary diseases we do not yet
understand, the modern plague of overpopulation is soluble by means we have
discovered and with resources we possess. What is lacking is not sufficient
knowledge of the solution but universal consciousness of the gravity of the
problem."
Up to now, the subject of over-population has been the
‘elephant in the room’ – the subject that no one will discuss but that is
changing – and the BBC (Radio 4) has hosted a series of talks and debates on
the issue. It is time to listen and
join in.
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