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Roles of Science
Prediction and control

- Hurricanes, earthquakes, etc.

- Cloud seeding, air conditioning

Answer to questions – how the universe began, what are we made of etc.

Easier (use recent examples)

- Convenience e.g. banking

Will we use it correctly

Detriments to using it

Who is in charge – corporations

Cost involved

Political
empowering individuals through access to knowledge and markets, changing the relationship between
citizens and those in authority, as well as allowing new communities to emerge in virtual worlds that
span the globe.

Science and its relationship to progress, profit

Big pharma, for-profit science (space tourism)

Economic
The technological revolutions of the 21st century are emerging from entirely new sectors, based on
micro-processors, tele-communications, bio-technology and nano-technology. Products are
transforming business practices across the economy, as well as the lives of all who have access to their
effects.

Social
- Healthcare, education, infrastructure

Developments in science and technology are fundamentally altering the way people live, connect,
communicate and transact, with profound effects on economic development. To promote tech advance,
developing countries should invest in quality education for youth, and continuous skills training for
workers and managers.

The U.S. Defense Department’s research division last week claimed a breakthrough in this area, issuing a
press release touting a 28-year-old paralyzed person’s ability to “feel” physical sensations through a
prosthetic hand. Researchers have directly connected the artificial appendage to his brain, giving him
the ability to even identify which mechanical finger is being gently touched, according to the Defense
Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). In 2013, other scientists at Case Western Reserve

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University also gave touch to amputees, giving patients precise-enough feeling of pressure in their
fingertips to allow them to twist the stems off cherries.

The area I’m most interested in is how we can use computer science to help clinicians and healthcare
providers recognize mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress
disorder through the non-verbal communication of the patient. We call this multimodal machine
learning.

It’s quite feasible that multimodal machine learning in the future could be used to help assess disorders
and even diseases remotely, perhaps even in pandemic situations such as the recent Ebola outbreak.

Through breakthroughs in health services and education, these technologies have the power to better
the lives of poor people in developing countries. Eradicating malaria, a scourge of the African continent
for centuries, is now possible. Cures for other diseases which are endemic in developing countries are
also now possible, allowing people with debilitating conditions to live healthy and productive lives.

Energy
Other technologies under development are interventions for cognitive enhancement, proton cancer
therapy and genetic engineering. Revolutionary inventions include small underground nuclear power
units called nuclear batteries that will be ultra-safe and maintenance-free; new types of photo-voltaics
that will make electricity from sunlight cheaper than that from coal; and myriad nano-technologies,
some of which lower the cost and increase the reliability of many products – even in the poorest areas
of the developing world.

Issues
access
Access and application are critical. Service and technology are the differentiators between countries that
are able to tackle poverty effectively by growing and developing their economies, and those that are
not. The extent to which developing economies emerge as economic powerhouses depends on their
ability to grasp and apply insights from science and technology and use them creatively. Innovation is
the primary driver of technological growth and drives higher living standards.

There is a risk that their cost, particularly in the early stages of development, will worsen the present
inequality by limiting access to wealthy individuals.

knowledge
As an engine of growth, the potential of technology is endless, and still largely untapped in Africa and
other developing world regions across the globe. Less developed countries not only lack skilled labour
and capital, but also use these less efficiently. Inputs account for less than half of the differences in per
capita income across nations. The rest is due to the inability to adopt and adapt technologies to raise
productivity.

Computing for example, through unlocking infrastructure backlogs and managing integrated supply
chains, can transform economic performance by enabling affordable and accessible services in
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education and healthcare. The combination of computers and the Internet, and mobile devices and the
“cloud”, has transformed human experience,

According to the United Nations International Telecommunications Union (UN-ITU), by the end of 2010
there were an estimated 5.3 billion mobile cellular subscriptions worldwide, including 940 million
subscriptions to 3g services. About 90 percent of the world’s population can access mobile networks,
with three-quarters of mobile subscribers living in developing economies. Cellular technology has
allowed Africa to leapfrog the age of fixed line telephony, bringing affordable access to millions of
people.

However, the continued and equitable expansion of Information Communication Technology (ICT)
depends on electricity. The real divide over the next 20 years will be between those who have access to
reliable electricity to power these devices and those who do not.

Conflict of interest
The current trend toward privatization in many countries is influencing the focus and practice of science.
While in some instances the net result may be to increase research capacity and knowledge in selected
areas, there is major concern that the trend may be undermining public-sector science, especially
fundamental research and efforts to solve socially important problems of no interest to commercial
enterprises. Patent protection of private intellectual property, for example, makes the job of public
research more difficult. There is also concern over the social implications of private ownership and
control of technology, and its effect on broad public scientific literacy, and on options for public choice.

Managing technological revolutions poses challenges. Certain innovations and discoveries will raise
fraught bio-ethical issues, as genetic modification of food crops and cloning of human embryos has
already done. This already happens in health care in certain G7 countries, where the demand for very
high-cost diagnostic equipment and surgical interventions enabling longevity and better quality of life
for older wealthy people overstretches public health care budgets, and lowers service quality in poor
neighborhoods. Finally, resource-intensive technologies, focused on satisfying high consumption
demand, like holidays abroad in costal resorts, wilderness areas, or iconic cities, increase carbon
emissions and environmental damage.

To promote technological advances, developing countries should invest in quality education for youth,
continuous skills training for workers and managers, and should ensure that knowledge is shared as
widely as possible across society.

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In a world in which the Internet makes information ubiquitous, what counts is the ability to use
knowledge intelligently. Knowledge is the systemically integrated information that allows a citizen, a
worker, a manager, or a finance minister to act purposefully and intelligently in a complex and
demanding world. The only form of investment that allows for increasing returns is in building the stocks
and flows of knowledge that a country or organization needs, an in encouraging new insights and
techniques.

inequality
Adopting appropriate technologies leads directly to higher productivity, which is the key to growth. In
societies that have large stock and flows of knowledge, virtuous circles that encourage widespread
creativity and technological innovation emerge naturally, and allow sustained growth over long periods.
In societies with limited stocks of knowledge, bright and creative people feel stifled and emigrate as
soon as they can, creating a vicious circle that traps those who remain in a more impoverished space.
Such societies stay mired in poverty and dependency.

The investment climate is crucial, as are the right incentive structures, to guide the allocation of
resources, and to encourage research and development.

Successful countries have grown their ability to innovate and learn by doing, by investing public funding
to help finance research and development in critical areas. Everyone is involved – big and small, public
and private, rich and poor.

The benefits that are certain to flow from technological revolution in an increasingly connected world
and knowledge-intensive world will be seized by those countries and companies that are alive to the
rapidly changing environment, and nimble enough to take advantage of the opportunities. Those that
succeed will make substantial advances in reducing poverty and inequality.

Advantages and dangers of scientific developments

Development of nuclear technology, biomedical science and

ethical dilemmas, surveillance technology, issues surrounding

investment in Large Hadron Collider

Pros of Science and Technology Cons of Science and technology

Talk of “playing God!” Aside from assuming the Science gives humans the ability to “play God”
existence of a deity that many do not believe in, and to interfere in areas about which we know
the talk of playing God implies a violation of set nothing. Scientists have already cloned animals,
boundaries. What boundaries? Set by whom? and recently some scientists announced that
The proposition is simply afraid of things about they will attempt to clone humans. Such
which it knows nothing. The assertion that we irresponsible and potentially dangerous
are meddling in areas we do not understand

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should be replaced with a call for better meddling is taking place in the name of scientific
regulation of scientific enquiry, not its abolition. advancement.

There are those who will oppose CRISPR because

it lets humans play God. But medicine routinely
intervenes in the natural order of things—saving
people from infections and parasites, say. The
opportunities to treat cancer, save children from
genetic disease and understand diabetes offer
justification to push ahead.

Science does not kill; humans do. We cannot Science has greatly increased the capability of
blame science for the flaws in human nature, men and women to kill each other. Wars that
and we cannot attribute suffering to science any used to be fought face-to-face on the battlefield,
more than to religion or philosophy, both of with comparatively few casualties, are now
which have caused wars. The example given fought from miles away in anonymity. The
illustrates how science brings with it buildup of nuclear arsenals during the Cold War
accompanying responsibility. Mutually assured gave humanity the capability of obliterating the
destruction ensured that neither the United entire world 10 times over. At certain times in
States nor the Soviet Union deployed nuclear history, such as the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, the
weapons. world has stood on the brink of destruction.

Nuclear

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Iran

Forget Broadway. The most riveting drama on a New York stage next week will be at the United
Nations, as world leaders including President Obama and Iran’s new president, Hassan Rouhani,
address global audiences and test the diplomatic openings for addressing two of the world’s most
explosive issues: Syria and Iran’s nuclear program. In 1979, The US countries to place sanctions on
Iran due to its nuclear program. The European Union has imposed restrictions on cooperation with
Iran in foreign trade, financial services, energy sectors and technologies, and banned the provision of
insurance and reinsurance by insurers in member states to Iran and Iranian-owned companies. In
2006, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1696[2] and imposed sanctions after Iran refused to
suspend its enrichment program. On 23 January 2012, the EU agreed to an oil embargo on Iran,
effective from July, and to freeze the assets of Iran's central bank.

Over the years, sanctions have taken a serious toll on Iran's economy and people. On 24th September
2013, New Iranian President Rouhani addressed the UN General Assembly and chastised US-led
sanctions that have helped cripple Iran’s economy as “violent” acts that cause “belligerence,
warmongering and human suffering.”

14 July 2015 After 17 days of almost uninterrupted negotiations, a historic deal is reached in Vienna.
It brings to an end a 12-year stand-off and potentially marks the beginning of a new era in relations
between Iran and the west.

North Korea:

For years, the United States and the international community have tried to negotiate an end to
North Korea’s nuclear and missile development and its export of ballistic missile technology. North
Korea claimed that it had withdrawn from the Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) in January 2003 and
once again began operating its nuclear facilities. North Korea pledged to abandon “all nuclear
weapons and existing nuclear programs” and return to the NPT.

1988 India and Pakistan Nuclear tests

Ten years ago, the governments of India and Pakistan tested nuclear devices, prompting a global
uproar, a united front by the five permanent members (P-5) of the UN Security Council, and stiff
sanctions directed at New Delhi and Islamabad. Although the timing of the tests came as a surprise
to the U.S. intelligence community, New Delhi had foreshadowed its decision to test two years
earlier by withdrawing from the negotiating endgame for the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
(CTBT), a goal that was ardently championed from 1954 onward by Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first
prime minister, and his successors.

Harmful effects

Between 1946 and 1958, 23 nuclear devices were detonated by the United States at seven test sites
located on the reef, inside the atoll, in the air, or underwater.[4] They had a combined fission yield
of 42.2 Mt. The testing began with the Operation Crossroads series in July 1946. Prior to nuclear
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testing, the residents initially accepted resettlement voluntarily to Rongerik Atoll, believing they
would be able to return home within a short time. Rongerik Atoll could not produce enough food
and the islanders starved for lack of food. When they could not return home, they were relocated to
Kwajalein Atoll for six months before choosing to live on Kili Island, a small island one-sixth the size
of their home island. Some were able to return to the Bikini Island in 1970 until further testing
revealed dangerous levels of strontium-90.

A team of UN chemical weapons inspectors have confirmed that the nerve agent sarin was used in
an attack on the Ghouta agricultural belt around Damascus on the morning of 21 August. The
opposition put the death toll at more than 1,300. Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said at least 3,600
patients displaying "neurotoxic symptoms" had been treated at the hospitals it supported. Of those
patients, 355 had died, it added.

Terrorism:

During the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013, two pressure cooker bombs exploded at 2:49 pm
EDT (18:49 UTC), killing 3 people and injuring an estimated 264 others.[3] The bombs exploded
about 13 seconds and 210 yards (190 m) apart, near the finish line on Boylston Street. The suspects
were identified later that day as Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev.

The brothers suspected of planting deadly bombs at the Boston Marathon got their ideas -- and even
instructions on how to make explosives from household items -- from an English-language website
that Al Qaeda uses to radicalize and recruit Westerners.

A U.S. official told Fox News that Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, and his brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19,
built the bombs with instructions from Inspire magazine -- an English-language online magazine
published by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

The world’s population could not be fed without Science is despoiling the natural world. Power
fertilizers and pesticides to increase crop yields grids ruin the countryside, acid rain from coal-
and machinery to harvest them efficiently. and gas-fired power stations kills fish, and
Science and technology are essential to modern animals are cruelly experimented on to further
existence. We must use them with care and not research. Not only does science give us the
abuse them. But condemning science as a potential to destroy each other, it also takes a
menace is ludicrous. massive toll on our natural surroundings.

Evidence: Evidence:

 Overall demand for agricultural products  In China, A tenth of the country’s

(including food, feed, fibre and biofuels) farmland is poisoned with chemicals and
heavy metals. Half of China’s urban
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is expected to increase 1.1 percent per water supplies are unfit even to wash in,
year from 2005/07 to 2050 let alone drink. In the northern half of
the country air pollution lops five-and-a-
 Some 20 to 40 percent of the world's half years off the average life.
potential crop production is already lost
annually because of the effects of  The world produces 30 billion tonnes of
weeds, pests and diseases (according to CO2 a year and has produced 531 trillion
the Food and Agriculture Organization of tonnes In cumulative CO2 emissions.
the United Nations or FAO). These crop
losses would be doubled if existing  IT HAS been a long time coming. But
pesticide uses were abandoned, then the fifth assessment of the state of
significantly raising food prices the global climate by the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
 Food production processes benefit from Change (IPCC), a United Nations body,
continual advancements in agricultural was a behemoth of an undertaking. It
technologies and practices; in fact, a runs to thousands of pages, involved
population now nearly twice as large has hundreds of scientists and was
more food available per capita than 40 exhaustively checked and triple-checked
years ago. Tools such as herbicides, by hundreds of other boffins and
insecticides, and fungicides reduce crop government officials to whom they
losses both before and after harvest, and report—and whose policies are often
increase crop yields. based on what they read. The first
tranche of the multi-volume report—an
 Increased fertilizer application and more executive summary of the physical
water usage through irrigation have science—was released in Stockholm on
been responsible for over 70% of the September 27th. And it is categorical in
crop yield increase in the past. its conclusion: climate change has not
stopped and man is the main cause. It
 Increased cropland and rangeland area
say that it is "extremely likely"—IPCC
only contributed to 15% contribution in
speak for having a probability of over
1961–1999 while Increased yield per unit
area (78% contribution); and Greater 95%—that man is responsible.
cropping intensity (7% percent  Total radiative forcing from man-made
contribution). sources since 1750 (ie, before
industrialisation) has risen from 0.29-
 The use of fertilizers accounts for
0.85W/m2 in 1950 to 0.64-1.86W/m2 in
approximately 50% of the yield increase,
1980 to 1.13-3.33W/m2 in 2011. The
and greater irrigation for another
average has jumped from 0.57 to 1.25 to
substantial part (FAO, 2003)
2.29, respectively—a four-fold increase
 in 60 years.

 The rate of warming over the past 15

years was 0.05ºC per decade...smaller
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than the rate calculated since 1951.” In

its 2007 report the panel had said the
rate of warming was 0.2ºC per decade

 Ocean warming is largest near the

surface and the upper 75 metres
warmed by 0.11ºC per decade over the
period 1971-2010.

GM Food

 Transgenic crops (GMCs: genetically modified crops), main products of agricultural

biotechnology, are increasingly becoming a dominant feature of the agricultural landscapes
of the USA and other countries such as China, Argentina, Mexico and Canada.

 Nearly half of American farms grow GMCs (genetically modified crops).

 Worldwide, the areas planted to transgenic crops jumped more than twenty-fold in the past
six years, from3 million hectares in 1996 to nearly 44.2 million hectares in 2000. 10

 In the USA, Argentina and Canada, over half of the average for major crops such as soybean,
corn and canola are planted in transgenic varieties.

Pros:

 Pest resistance Crop losses from insect pests can be staggering, resulting in
devastating financial loss for farmers and starvation in developing countries. Farmers
typically use many tons of chemical pesticides annually. Consumers do not wish to eat
food that has been treated with pesticides because of potential health hazards, and run-
off of agricultural wastes from excessive use of pesticides and fertilizers can poison the
water supply and cause harm to the environment. Growing GM foods such as B.t. corn
can help eliminate the application of chemical pesticides and reduce the cost of bringing
a crop to market4, 5.

 Herbicide tolerance For some crops, it is not cost-effective to remove weeds by physical
means such as tilling, so farmers will often spray large quantities of different herbicides
(weed-killer) to destroy weeds, a time-consuming and expensive process, that requires
care so that the herbicide doesn't harm the crop plant or the environment. Crop plants
genetically-engineered to be resistant to one very powerful herbicide could help prevent
environmental damage by reducing the amount of herbicides needed. For example,
Monsanto has created a strain of soybeans genetically modified to be not affected by
their herbicide product Roundup ®6. A farmer grows these soybeans which then only
require one application of weed-killer instead of multiple applications, reducing
production cost and limiting the dangers of agricultural waste run-off7.

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Matin Qaim and Wilhelm Klümper, both of Göttingen University, in Germany, went through all
examinations of the agronomic and economic impacts of GM crops published in English between
1995 and March 2014.

a consequence, the study found, herbicide-tolerant crops have lower production costs—though this
was not true for insect-resistant crops, where the need for less pesticide was offset by higher seed
prices, and overall production costs were thus about the same as for unmodified crops. With both
forms of modification, however, the yield rise was so great (9% above non-GM crops for herbicide
tolerance and 25% above for insect resistance) that farmers who adopted GM crops made 69%
higher profits than those who did not.

Many poor countries eschew GM crops, fearing they will not able to export them to areas which ban
them, notably the European Union. This has a big opportunity cost. Dr Qaim and Dr Klümper found
that GM crops do even better in poor countries than in rich ones. Farmers in developing nations who
use the technology achieve yields 14 percentage points above those of GM farmers in the rich world.
Pests and weeds are a bigger problem in poor countries, so GM confers bigger benefits.

 Disease resistance There are many viruses, fungi and bacteria that cause plant diseases.
Plant biologists are working to create plants with genetically-engineered resistance to
these diseases8, 9.

 Cold tolerance Unexpected frost can destroy sensitive seedlings. An antifreeze gene
from cold water fish has been introduced into plants such as tobacco and potato. With
this antifreeze gene, these plants are able to tolerate cold temperatures that normally
would kill unmodified seedlings10. (Note: I have not been able to find any journal
articles or patents that involve fish antifreeze proteins in strawberries, although I have
seen such reports in newspapers. I can only conclude that nothing on this application
has yet been published or patented.)

 Drought tolerance/salinity tolerance As the world population grows and more

land is utilized for housing instead of food production, farmers will need to grow crops in
locations previously unsuited for plant cultivation. Creating plants that can withstand
long periods of drought or high salt content in soil and groundwater will help people to
grow crops in formerly inhospitable places11, 12.

 Nutrition Malnutrition is common in third world countries where impoverished

peoples rely on a single crop such as rice for the main staple of their diet. However, rice
does not contain adequate amounts of all necessary nutrients to prevent malnutrition. If
rice could be genetically engineered to contain additional vitamins and minerals,
nutrient deficiencies could be alleviated. For example, blindness due to vitamin A
deficiency is a common problem in third world countries. Researchers at the Swiss
Federal Institute of Technology Institute for Plant Sciences have created a strain of
"golden" rice containing an unusually high content of beta-carotene (vitamin A)13. Since

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this rice was funded by the Rockefeller Foundation14, a non-profit organization, the
Institute hopes to offer the golden rice seed free to any third world country that
requests it. Plans were underway to develop a golden rice that also has increased iron
content. However, the grant that funded the creation of these two rice strains was not
renewed, perhaps because of the vigorous anti-GM food protesting in Europe, and so
this nutritionally-enhanced rice may not come to market at all

 Pharmaceuticals Medicines and vaccines often are costly to produce and sometimes
require special storage conditions not readily available in third world countries.
Researchers are working to develop edible vaccines in tomatoes and potatoes16, 17.
These vaccines will be much easier to ship, store and administer than traditional
injectable vaccines.

 Phytoremediation Not all GM plants are grown as crops. Soil and groundwater
pollution continues to be a problem in all parts of the world. Plants such as poplar trees
have been genetically engineered to clean up heavy metal pollution from contaminated
soil18.

 the spread of transgenes to related weeds or conspecifics via crop-weed hybridization

Cons:

Environmental harm

 Unintended harm to other organisms Last year a laboratory study was published in
Nature21 showing that pollen from B.t. corn caused high mortality rates in monarch
butterfly caterpillars. Monarch caterpillars consume milkweed plants, not corn, but the fear
is that if pollen from B.t. corn is blown by the wind onto milkweed plants in neighboring
fields, the caterpillars could eat the pollen and perish. Although the Nature study was not
conducted under natural field conditions, the results seemed to support this viewpoint.
Unfortunately, B.t. toxins kill many species of insect larvae indiscriminately; it is not possible
to design a B.t. toxin that would only kill crop-damaging pests and remain harmless to all
other insects. This study is being reexamined by the USDA, the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) and other non-government research groups, and preliminary data
from new studies suggests that the original study may have been flawed22, 23. This topic is
the subject of acrimonious debate, and both sides of the argument are defending their data
vigorously. Currently, there is no agreement about the results of these studies, and the
potential risk of harm to non-target organisms will need to be evaluated further.

 Reduced effectiveness of pesticides Just as some populations of mosquitoes developed

resistance to the now-banned pesticide DDT, many people are concerned that insects will
become resistant to B.t. or other crops that have been genetically-modified to produce their
own pesticides.

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 Gene transfer to non-target species Another concern is that crop plants engineered for
herbicide tolerance and weeds will cross-breed, resulting in the transfer of the herbicide
resistance genes from the crops into the weeds. These "superweeds" would then be
herbicide tolerant as well. Other introduced genes may cross over into non-modified crops
planted next to GM crops. The possibility of interbreeding is shown by the defense of
farmers against lawsuits filed by Monsanto. The company has filed patent infringement
lawsuits against farmers who may have harvested GM crops. Monsanto claims that the
farmers obtained Monsanto-licensed GM seeds from an unknown source and did not pay
royalties to Monsanto. The farmers claim that their unmodified crops were cross-pollinated
from someone else's GM crops planted a field or two away. More investigation is needed to
resolve this issue.

 There are several possible solutions to the three problems mentioned above. Genes are
exchanged between plants via pollen. Two ways to ensure that non-target species will not
receive introduced genes from GM plants are to create GM plants that are male sterile (do
not produce pollen) or to modify the GM plant so that the pollen does not contain the
introduced gene24, 25, 26. Cross-pollination would not occur, and if harmless insects such as
monarch caterpillars were to eat pollen from GM plants, the caterpillars would survive.

 Another possible solution is to create buffer zones around fields of GM cropsFor example,
non-GM corn would be planted to surround a field of B.t. GM corn, and the non-GM corn
would not be harvested. Beneficial or harmless insects would have a refuge in the non-GM
corn, and insect pests could be allowed to destroy the non-GM corn and would not develop
resistance to B.t. pesticides. Gene transfer to weeds and other crops would not occur
because the wind-blown pollen would not travel beyond the buffer zone. Estimates of the
necessary width of buffer zones range from 6 meters to 30 meters or more30. This planting
method may not be feasible if too much acreage is required for the buffer zones.

Human health risks

 Allergenicity Many children in the US and Europe have developed life-threatening

allergies to peanuts and other foods. There is a possibility that introducing a gene into a
plant may create a new allergen or cause an allergic reaction in susceptible individuals. A
proposal to incorporate a gene from Brazil nuts into soybeans was abandoned because of
the fear of causing unexpected allergic reactions31. Extensive testing of GM foods may be
required to avoid the possibility of harm to consumers with food allergies. Labeling of GM
foods and food products will acquire new importance, which I shall discuss later.

 Unknown effects on human health There is a growing concern that introducing foreign
genes into food plants may have an unexpected and negative impact on human health. A
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recent article published in Lancet examined the effects of GM potatoes on the digestive tract
in rats32, 33. This study claimed that there were appreciable differences in the intestines of
rats fed GM potatoes and rats fed unmodified potatoes. Yet critics say that this paper, like
the monarch butterfly data, is flawed and does not hold up to scientific scrutiny34.
Moreover, the gene introduced into the potatoes was a snowdrop flower lectin, a substance
known to be toxic to mammals. The scientists who created this variety of potato chose to
use the lectin gene simply to test the methodology, and these potatoes were never intended
for human or animal consumption.

 On the whole, with the exception of possible allergenicity, scientists believe that GM foods
do not present a risk to human health.

ON NOVEMBER 4th voters in Colorado rejected a ballot initiative that would have required special
labels for foods made with genetically modified (GM) ingredients.

SOUTHERN AFRICA'S food crisis is set to be the worst in a decade. Around 14.5m people are
dangerously hungry, and many have been reduced to eating wild leaves and pig food. One might,
then, expect food aid to be welcomed. But Zambia is refusing to accept American donations because
much of its corn and soya is genetically modified (GM). Zambia's president, Levy Mwanawasa, calls
the stuff “poison” and refuses to import it, despite a warning from the UN World Food Programme,
on September 16th, that relief supplies in his country could run out in two weeks.

Tesco, for example, a British supermarket, promises that there are no GM products in its own-brand
food. It audits its suppliers to make sure they comply, and has samples of foods tested for traces of
DNA that would indicate that some of the ingredients have been genetically modified.

Science has greatly increased the ability of Science has perverted the fundamental basis of
people to communicate. Telephones and e-mail human relations. The word “society” itself
now enable people on opposite sides of the comes from “socialization”—the idea of
world to stay in touch. The Internet allows interaction and communication.
people unprecedented access to information,
anything from sports scores to debating crib With the Internet, television, and computer
sheets. Any study of preindustrial society will games, humans are communing with a lifeless
show that computer games appear to have taken collection of microchips, not each other.
the place previously held by recreational
violence.
Evidence:

 Phubbing: the war against anti-social

phone use. It means "The act of
snubbing someone in a social setting by
looking at your phone instead of paying
attention.

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 A study from this past March in

Developmental Psychology hints that
multitasking in the digital form through
social media can leave today’s children
socially incompetent.

 An infographic from Schools.com states

how 24% of people surveyed in a recent
poll said that they had missed an
important moment because they were
too busy trying to share those moments
on a social network.

 The same infographic states that two in

five people spend more time socializing
online than they do face-to-face and
that’s a statistic that could only increase
over the years,

Modern medicines have more than doubled our

life expectancy and prevented fatal childhood
diseases.

 According to the World Bank, World Life expectancy: 52.63 in 1960 to 69.62 in 2011. 32.3%
increase.

 Mortality rate, under 5: 152.97 in 1000 1968 down to 51 in 1000

 The marriage between medicine and technology has reshaped healthcare and revolutionized
the medical profession. Some of the major benefits are:

 In developed countries, excluding America, doctors with no speciality earn about twice the
income of the average worker, according to McKinsey, a consultancy. America's specialist
doctors earn ten times America's average wage. A medical degree is a universal badge of
respectability. Others make a living. Doctors save lives, too.

 With the 21st century certain to see soaring demand for health care, the doctors' star might
seem in the ascendant still. By 2030, 22% of people in the OECD club of rich countries will be
65 or older, nearly double the share in 1990. China will catch up just six years later. About
half of American adults already have a chronic condition, such as diabetes or hypertension,
and as the world becomes richer the diseases of the rich spread farther. In the slums of
Calcutta, infectious diseases claim the young; for middle-aged adults, heart disease and
cancer are the most common killers. Last year the United Nations held a summit on health

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(only the second in its history) that gave warning about the rising toll of chronic disease
worldwide.

 Secure environment: Technology allows physicians and patients to interact in a secure and
comfortable environment to discuss sensitive issues.
Flexibility: Physicians can answer routine and less critical queries at a convenient time.
Cost- and time-saving: Physicians can follow-up, provide advice, and re-direct patients to
resources on the Internet. This saves cost and time by reducing office visits.
Medical devices: Medical aids allow patients to continue recovery at home reducing their
hospital stay.

 Other problems have inspired other solutions, with technology filling gaps in the labour
force. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation supports a programme that uses mobile
phones to deliver advice and reminders to pregnant women in Ghana. In December the
foundation and Grand Challenges Canada, a non-profit organisation, announced $32m in
grants for new mobile tools that will help health-care workers diagnose various ailments. In
Mexico, worried patients can phone Medicall Home, a “telehealth” service. If a patient
needs care, Medicall Home can help to arrange a doctor's visit. But about two-thirds of
patients' concerns can be addressed over the phone by a doctor (often one only recently
qualified).

 These programmes are expanding. Medicall Home is rolling out its service in Colombia and
plans to be operating in Peru by the end of the year. Aravind has exported its training model
to about 30 developing countries. Dr Shetty already has 14 hospitals in India. He plans to add
30,000 hospital beds in big health complexes and small hospitals there over the next seven
years, as well as build a hospital in the Cayman Islands.

 Less flashy technology, though, could make the biggest difference by reducing the number
of crises which require a doctor's intervention. Marta Pettit works on a programme to
manage chronic conditions that is run from Montefiore Medical Centre, the largest hospital
system in the Bronx, a New York borough. Ms Pettit and a squadron of other “care co-
ordinators” examine a stream of data gathered from health records and devices in patients'
homes, such as the Health Buddy. Made by Bosch, a German engineering company, the
Health Buddy asks patients questions about their symptoms each day. If a diabetic's blood
sugar jumps, or a patient with congestive heart failure shows a sudden weight gain, Ms
Pettit calls the patient and, if necessary, alerts her superior, a nurse. Diabetics' trips to
hospital plunged by 30% between 2006 and 2010; their costs dropped by 12%.

 Vulnerable population: Technology aids the very young, elderly, and patients with complex
birth defects, chronic illnesses, and disabled children by alleviating their problems so that
they can continue living in their homes.

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 Britain has completed the world's biggest randomised trial of telehealth technology,
including gizmos from Philips. The study examined 6,000 patients with chronic diseases.
According to preliminary results of a study by Britain's health department in December 2011,
admissions to the emergency room dropped by 20% and mortality plummeted by 45%

 In recent years, life expectancy has been increasing all over the world. An average person in
the world can now expect to live

 Fewer personnel in the OR, doctors can operate miles away from patient, resulting in lower
medical costs.

 Robotic assistants can also decrease the fatigue that doctors experience during surgeries
that can last several hours. Surgeons can become exhausted during those long surgeries, and
can experience hand tremors as a result. Even the steadiest of human hands cannot match
those of a surgical robot. Engineers program robotic surgery systems to compensate for
tremors, so if the doctor's hand shakes the computer ignores it and keeps the mechanical
arm steady.

 Robotic surgery has enhanced precision, reduced trauma to patient

 Traditional heart bypass surgery requires that the patient's chest be "cracked" open by way
of a 1-foot (30.48-cm) long incision. However, with robotic surgery, it's possible to operate
on the heart by making three or four small incisions in the chest, each only about 1 cm in
length. Because the surgeon would make smaller incisions instead of one long one down the
length of the chest, the patient would experience less pain, trauma and bleeding, hence
faster recovery.

 Singapore: da Vinci® SiHD Surgical System @ NUH a robotic surgical system made by the
American company Intuitive Surgical. It is designed to facilitate complex surgery using a
minimally invasive approach, and is controlled by a surgeon from a console.

Impact of modern technology on society (Benefits +

hazards of modern technology)

Overreliance, Culture of convenience, increasing acceptance of A.I, negative impact on skill level and
knowledge acquisition

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Around a third of people in Britain are unable to accurately spell words such as “definitely”, “separate”
and “necessary”, it was revealed.

The study found that just a fifth of over-18s could properly pick out a series of potentially tricky words
from a list. Teenagers and those in their early 20s were the worst spellers, it emerged.

Mark Goldring, chief executive of Mencap, the charity for people with learning disabilities, which
commissioned the research, said that poor spelling risked hampering school leavers’ job prospects.

Best spellers: Women above 65. Worst spellers: Men between 18-24

Drive to improve

Advancements to our physical, cognitive and social capabilities have always involved a process of
constant learning that we associate with effort. If in the future we can enhance ourselves “on demand”,
it raises the question whether advancements to our capabilities are a means to an end or whether they
are ends in and of themselves? What will drive and motivate us if we can enhance ourselves and if
choices are made for us? Will we still feel needed and in what way?

Homogenous

Personal-genomics might allow us to “design” babies with whatever physical and intellectual attributes
we deem desirable. If for the first time in our species’ history we can actively influence our evolutionary
process, what will happen if not everyone has access to these technologies or if some decide to “opt
out”? Will the absence of failure in an “enhanced” society hold civilization back and will “unenhanced”
humans thus be needed to ensure disruptive progress? How will emerging technologies interact with
the value systems of traditional religions?

Privacy

If in the future technologies merge with the body, it could become almost impossible to disconnect from
networks. People themselves would then be part of the “internet of things”. Will the benefits of
technology such as remote medical care, for example, offset the cost in the loss of intimacy associated
with personal care? For which benefits are we prepared to give up control over our bodies and to
whom? What areas of our lives will we expect to remain private and will we continue to need private
spaces?

Unemployment

For all the jobs that machines can now do — whether performing surgery, driving cars or serving food —
they still lack one distinctly human trait. They have no social skills.

Yet skills like cooperation, empathy and flexibility have become increasingly vital in modern-day work.
Occupations that require strong social skills have grown much more than others since 1980, according to
new research. And the only occupations that have shown consistent wage growth since 2000 require
both cognitive and social skills.

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Responsibilities of scientists
Scientists should reflect on the social consequences of the technological applications or dissemination of
partial information of their work and explain to the public and policy makers alike the degree of
scientific uncertainty or incompleteness in their findings.

promote multidisciplinary approaches to research, encourage cooperation between the social and
natural sciences, and draw lessons from the humanities, local knowledge systems and aboriginal
wisdom;

encourage a holistic approach to problem solving that takes into account a realistic range of
socioeconomic conditions and effects, as well as multiple time and space scales, where appropriate;

carefully explain the implications and the inherent limitations of their research findings to the public;

fully exploit the predictive power of science to serve social needs with candid awareness of the
limitations of scientific predictions;

promote the inclusion of scientists from resource-poor countries in international cooperative projects
and maximize their access to information and technology;

encourage the creation of science-coordination mechanisms at the highest level of the United Nations,
fully involving the governments of all countries, as a way to promote integrated responses to global
problems.

truth

Science policy and ethics

The gaining of scientific knowledge must not be assumed to lead automatically to direct commercial
policy exploitation of that knowledge. Often the knowledge is of greatest benefit if it increases public
understanding and awareness. Scientists cannot always control the application of their findings.
However, they have a responsibility to engage in public dialogue about the implications of scientific
findings and to help distinguish between socially beneficial and socially harmful applications.

Action is needed at the international level to protect the human species from human-induced genetic
alteration and to ensure that technological applications in the fields of human genetics are ethically and
socially sound. Review committees at the institutional and national levels, such as those that examine
and appraise research projects, can help focus attention on key ethical and safety issues. However,

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stronger and higher-level mechanisms for decision-making and enforcement in this area of science are
also needed. UNESCO has an important role to play in this regard.

Scientists should be more proactive in policy making. This could be done by promoting, among
governments around the world, the concept of "science/policy contracts". These agreements would
recognize the value of scientific advice, but also make clear that such advice is but one ingredient in
decision-making and not necessarily the overriding one. Such contracts should set clear performance
standards by which the inputs of scientists can be evaluated.

The world scientific community should consider adopting an international code of ethical conduct for
scientists, similar to the Hippocratic Oath taken by physicians. This code would apply a similar principle
of measurability to scientific behaviour that scientists so cherish in their day-to-day pursuit of
knowledge.

(In a commentary subsequent to the workshop, one participant suggested that the Engineer’s Pledge,
which undoubtedly has influenced the ethical conduct of professional engineers in several countries,
could also be a model for principles of conduct of science in general, adapted to express consideration
for all of humankind, ecological integrity, and long-term consequences).

Developments in medical field

–controversies, promises

Gene patenting, 1000 dollar genome, “medicalisation” of social

problems (shyness as ‘social anxiety disorder’)

Genetic editing
CRISPR-Cas9, or just CRISPR. It involves a piece of RNA, a chemical messenger, designed to target a
section of DNA; and an enzyme, called a nuclease, that can snip unwanted genes out and paste new
ones in. Other ways of editing DNA exist, but CRISPR holds the promise of doing so with unprecedented
simplicity, speed and precision.

A dizzying range of applications has researchers turning to CRISPR to develop therapies for everything
from Alzheimer’s to cancer to HIV (see article). By allowing doctors to put just the right cancer-hunting
genes into a patient’s immune system, the technology could lead to new approaches to oncology. It may
also accelerate the progress of gene therapy—where doctors put normal genes into the cells of people
who suffer from genetic diseases such as Tay Sachs or cystic fibrosis.

China revealed they had tried using CRISPR to edit the genomes of human embryos. Although these
embryos could not develop to term, viable embryos could one day be engineered for therapeutic
reasons or non-medical enhancement.

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Dangerous
The immediate barrier is practical. As well as cutting the intended DNA, CRISPR often finds targets
elsewhere, too. In the laboratory that may not matter; in people it could cause grave harm. In someone
with a terrible disease, the risk of collateral damage might be worth running. But for germ-line
applications, where the side-effects would be felt in every cell, the bar should be high. It may take a
generation to ensure that the technology is safe. Until then, couples with some genetic diseases can
conceive using in-vitro fertilisation and select healthy embryos.

Moreover, awash though it is with gene-sequence data, biology still has a tenuous grip on the origins of
almost all the interesting and complex traits in humanity. Very few are likely to be easily enhanced with
a quick cut-and-paste. There will often be trade-offs between some capabilities and others. An à la carte
menu of attributes seems a long way off. Yet science makes progress—indeed, as gene sequencing
shows, it sometimes does so remarkably quickly. So scientists are right to be thinking now about how
best to regulate CRISPR.

Restrictions on gene editing

A harder question is whether it is ever right to edit human germ-line cells, to make changes that are
inherited. This is banned in 40 countries and restricted in many others. There is no reason for a ban on
research or therapeutic use: some countries, rightly, allow research on human embryos, as long as they
are left over from in-vitro fertilisation and are not grown beyond 14 days; and Britain has allowed a
donor to supply mitochondrial DNA at conception to spare children needless suffering, even though the
change will be passed on. And CRISPR deals with the objection that germ-line changes are irrevocable: if
genes can be edited out, they can also be edited back in.

Animals
The conservative, painstaking approach taken by Britain’s Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority
in its decision on mitochondrial DNA is a model. Regulators must also monitor CRISPR’s use in non-
human species. Changing animals’ genomes to spread desirable traits—mosquitoes that cannot transmit
malaria, for example—could bring huge benefits. But the risk of unanticipated consequences means that
such “gene drives” should be banned unless they can be reversed with proven countermeasures.

Consent and equality

If CRISPR can be shown to be safe in humans, mechanisms will also be needed to grapple with consent
and equality. Gene editing raises the spectre of parents making choices that are not obviously in the
best interests of their children. Deaf parents may prefer their offspring to be deaf too, say; pushy
parents might want to boost their children’s intelligence at all costs, even if doing so affects their
personalities in other ways. And if it becomes possible to tweak genes to make children smarter, should
that option really be limited to the rich?

Genetic testing
Genetic testing company 23andMe is reintroducing some health screening tools that federal regulators
forced off the market more than two years ago, due to concerns about their accuracy and interpretation
by customers.

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The Google-backed company said Wednesday it will again offer 35 tests that tell users whether they
carry genetic mutations for rare diseases like cystic fibrosis, which can be passed from parents to
children.

CEO Anne Wojcicki said 23andMe submitted studies to the FDA showing that users can understand
genetic test results without the aid of a doctor or health counselor.

More than 1 million people have used the company's saliva-based test kit, a small plastic tube that
customers fill with spit and return to the company for processing. About 80 percent of those customers
have authorized the company to sell their data to drugmakers and academics for research purposes.

New customers will pay more for the updated 23andMe experience. The company will charge $199 per
person, up from $99.

Issues involving life and death

(euthanasia, AMD vs Physician’s ethical code)

Responsibility of the state + individual for healthcare

Budget cuts and spending on healthcare (USA), passing of the US

Healthcare Bill vs Medicare in SG, National Health System - UK

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