Gregory Stock, "The Enhanced and the Unenhanced"

Gregory Stock, the Director of the Program on Medicine, Technology and Society at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine, is a scientist, educator, and entrepreneur. Stock is a vocal and enthusiastic supporter of using genetic technology to alter human DNA to select for desired traits. Interestingly, Stock does not believe that limits should be placed on the characteristics we should be allowed to select for; he advocates the manipulation of genetic material to gain "enhanced" results ranging from better health to increased strength, intelligence, and attractiveness. Stock argues that genetic choice technology is not simply a possibility but an inevitability, and for that reason, he believes that we should begin to think seriously about how to deal with the swift and dramatic changes that will come to human reproduction in the immediate future. In "The Enhanced and the Unenhanced," he writes: "The enormous collective project of conscious human evolution has begun."

Stock's vision is not merely a practical one; implicit in his argument is a philosophy that reinterprets the concepts of nature, life, and humanity. In fact, Stock does not view "human-directed" technology and nature as separate spheres. Rather, he argues that humans are a part of the natural world, as are the technologies we create. Furthermore, Stock feels that the development of germinal choice technology is "the ultimate expression and realization of our humanity" rather than a threat to what is "human within us." While Stock supports the results of these technologies, he acknowledges that there is still considerable thinking to be done about how the changes to human reproduction will unfold, and he urges us to take part in the conversation as a society. But he shifts the parameters of the conversation away from the hypothetical and theoretical and into the realm of the practicable. As he observes, "My view is that we don't have the wisdom to understand these technologies yet. . . . You wait to see how people actually use them. You keep an eye on them."  

Stock, Gregory. "The Enhanced and the Unenhanced." Redesigning Humans: Our Inevitable Genetic Future. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2002. 176-201.
Biographical information drawn from the Greater Talent Network and KurzweilAI.net. Closing quotation drawn from the Salon.com interview with Gregory Stock.
Digital image drawn from the UCLA Program on Medicine, Technology and Society.

Link to Explore:

http://research.arc2.ucla.edu/pmts/Germline/default.htm: An evolving, multimedia exploration of Human Germline Engineering prepared by UCLA's Program on Medicine Technology and Society, which Stock organized.

Question for Learning:

• This website, designed for non-specialists, is "a unique compilation of opinion and commentary from specialists around the world on the scientific, social and ethical implications of altering the genes we pass to our children." Along with answers to common questions about genetic engineering, the site also provides space for the personal reflections of medical professionals and other thinkers. Has Stock and his UCLA program done an effective job of presenting the genetic engineering debate impartially? Do certain questions remain unanswered or seem more important to people than others?

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Question for Connecting:

• Stock assumes that genetic technologies can be made widely, or even universally, available. Does William Greider paint a picture of American social life that lends credence to Stock's assumptions? Would a free market in genetic technology assure that everyone could take advantage of such technological advances? How might the market in these technologies be protected or controlled to make certain that everyone would be able to compete equally for these benefits? Should such market protections be introduced?

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