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Bionics 6. Kevin Warwick. Human Enhancement. Any attempt, temporary or permanent, to overcome the limitations of the human body, by natural or artificial means.
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Bionics 6 Kevin Warwick
Human Enhancement • Any attempt, temporary or permanent, to overcome the limitations of the human body, by natural or artificial means. • The use of technological means to select or alter human aptitudes and characteristics (whether or not the alteration results in characteristics that lie beyond the existing human range). • Is the technology used for non-therapeutic purposes? • Some bioethicists restrict the term to the non-therapeutic application of — neuro-, cyber-, gene- and nano- technologies to the human body.
Therapy • Where an individual has a problem, they could (individually) be enhanced by attempting to restore them to the ‘norm’ • Some regard this as ‘human enhancement’ • Example: Hook for a hand amputee • We must acknowledge that some people think this way • The view here is enhancement above the ‘norm’
Differences • Directly repairing a problem – Therapy (not enhancement) • Extending a capability – enhancement • Endowing with a different ability - ?? • Example 1: Springy legs to replace amputated legs • Example 2: Ultrasonic input to replace vision for the blind • Therapy/enhancement is not clear
Technologies • Embryo selection using genetic diagnosis • Gene Therapy for genetic modifications • Performance enhancing drugs • Neural implants • Plastic surgery
Embryo Selection • Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (aka Embryo Screening) refers to diagnostic procedures that are performed on embryos prior to implantation. • PGD is an alternative to prenatal diagnosis. • It avoids selective pregnancy termination as the method makes it highly likely that the baby will be free of the disease under consideration. • PGD requires in vitro fertilization (IVF) to obtain embryos for evaluation. • Preimplantation genetic screening is used to denote diagnostic screening procedures that do not look for a specific disease but use PGD techniques to identify embryos at risk.
Ethical Concerns - 1 • The technique can be used to determine the gender of the embryo, and can be used to select embryos of one gender in the context of “family balancing”. It may be possible to make other "social selection" choices in the future. The approach is though less destructive than fetal deselection during the pregnancy. • Costs are substantial and insurance coverage may not be available. PGD widens the gap between people who can afford the procedure versus a majority of patients who may benefit but cannot obtain the service. • PGD has the potential to screen for genetic issues unrelated to medical necessity. The “designer baby” is closely related to PGD.
Gene Therapy • Genetic engineering, recombinant DNA technology, genetic modification/manipulation and gene splicing are terms that are applied to the manipulation of genes. • This implies the process is outside the organism’s natural reproductive process. • It involves the isolation, manipulation and reintroduction of DNA into cells to cause a protein to reach desired effects. • The aim is to introduce new characteristics or attributes physiologically or physically, e.g. introducing a new trait, enhancing existing ones, producing a new protein or enzyme. • No reports yet of direct success with human enhancement.
Drugs • In sports, the use of performance-enhancing drugs that are forbidden by the organizers. • There is also blood doping by blood transfusion or use of hormone treatments. • Doping is considered to be unethical by most international sports organizations (IOC). The reasons are the health threat of performance enhancing drugs and equality of opportunity of the athletes. • Tetrahydrogestrinone and modafinil are currently causing controversy. • Modafinil was added to the list of prohibited substances ten days before the start of the 2004 summer olympics. • Improves performance? But is it really enhancement?
Plastic Surgery • Plastic surgery is a medical technique to change the appearance and function of a person's body. • Procedures include cosmetic enhancements as well as functionally reconstructive operations. • Where aesthetics are considered more important than functionality, plastic surgery is sometimes referred to as cosmetic surgery. • Most procedures involve both aesthetic and functional elements.
Plastic Surgery 2 • Correction of disfigurement/deformity – not enhancement • Restoration of impaired function – not enhancement • Improvement of physical appearance - enhancement • Tissue may be moved to fill a depression, to cover a wound, or to improve appearance. • Tissue may be completely removed to alter the contours of a feature. • Correction of a ‘perceived’ physical imperfection. • Psychological benefits (e.g. nose job) – enhancement??
Neural Implants • Brain implants (neural implants), are devices that connect directly to a biological subject's brain or nervous system. • They are usually placed on the surface of the brain, attached to the brain’s cortex or fired into the brain. Conversely they could be fired in to the nervous system or wrapped around the nervous system. • A common purpose is establishing a prosthesis, circumventing areas in the brain, which became dysfunctional after a stroke or head injury. (sensory substitution?) • Some brain implants involve creating interfaces between neural systems and computers, these are part of a wider research field called brain computer interfaces.
Role • Brain/neural implants electrically stimulate and/or record from small groups of neurons (very unlikely single neurons) in the brain/NS. • This may be done when the functional associations of these neurons are approximately known, however it is also a way we can learn about such associations. • Because of the complexity of neural processing and the lack of access to action potentials (insufficient technology), the application of brain implants has been seriously limited until recent years. • Advances in neurophysiology, computer processing power and implant technology has moved things forward recently.
Electrodes • Several projects have demonstrated success at recording from the brains of animals for long periods of time. In 1976, researchers at the NIH (USA) (led by Ed Schmidt) made action potential recordings of signals from Rhesus monkey motor cortexes using 'hatpin' electrodes, including consistent recordings for greater than three years from the ‘best’ electrodes. • The 'hatpin' electrodes were made of pure iridium and insulated with Parylene-c, materials that are currently used in the Utah array. These same electrodes are also used in visual prosthetics research and other motor prosthetics.
History 1 • In 1870 Hitzig and Fritsch demonstrated that electrical stimulation of certain areas of the brains of dogs could produce movements. Bartholow showed the same to be true for humans in 1874. In the early 1900’s Krause began to map human brain areas of patients who had undergone surgery. • In the 1950s Heath experimented with aggressive mental patients, aiming to influence their moods through electrical stimulation.
History 2 • Delgado demonstrated control of animal and human subjects' behaviours using electronic stimulation. He invented the stimoceiver, a device implanted in the brain to transmit electrical impulses that modify basic behaviours such as aggression or sensations of pleasure. • Delgado llater wrote a popular book on mind control, called "Physical Control of the Mind", he stated: "the feasibility of remote control of activities in several species of animals has been demonstrated [...] The ultimate objective of this research is to provide an understanding of the mechanisms involved in the directional control of animals and to provide practical systems suitable for human application.“ • In the 1950’s, the CIA funded research into mind control techniques. Because he received funding for some research through the US Office of Naval Research, it was suggested that Delgado also received backing through the CIA for human research. He denied this claim in a 2005 article in Scientific American.
Breakthroughs • Studies of the process of functional brain re-wiring throughout the learning of a sensory discrimination. • Control of physical devices by rat brains. • Monkeys controlling robotic arms. • Remote control of mechanical devices by monkeys and humans. • Remote control over the movements of cockroaches. • The first reported use of the Utah Array in a human for bidirectional signalling - 2002. • A number of groups are now conducting preliminary motor prosthetic implants in humans. These studies are presently limited to several months by the longevity of the implants.
Utah Array • The Utah Array has, to date, been implanted into a total of 3 humans. • Only one is still alive!!
Brain Computer Interfaces • Brain-computer interfaces also include technology such as EEG arrays that allow an interface between mind and machine but do not require direct implantation of a device. • Question here is – with external electrodes, is it human enhancement? • Or is it the same as using a computer or riding a bicycle?
Neural Implants - Enhancements • What human enhancements have already been demonstrated? • What might be possible in the future?
Enhancements - 1 • 1999 – Philip Kennedy (Atlanta) at Neural Signals Inc. – neurotropic implant into the brain of a stroke patient. • Allowed patient (Johnny Ray) to communicate via a keyboard. • 2004 – research ongoing for direct translation of speech signals/phonemes.
Enhancements - 2 • 2002 – Utah array implanted into median nerves KW/MG – University of Reading • Extra sensory input • Extending nervous system over the internet • Direct communication telegraphy/telepathy • Control of lights/vehicles by neural signals alone
Enhancements - 3 • 2005 – Donoghue Implant (Brown University, Providence RI, USA) • Matt Nagle (a tetraplegic) controlled an artificial hand using a BCI as part of a nine-month human trial of Cyberkinetics Neurotechnology’s BrainGate implant (Utah array). • Implanted in Nagle’s right motor cortex (arm movement), the implant allowed Nagle to control a robotic arm by thinking about moving his hand as well as a computer cursor, lights and TV.
Enhancement - 3 • http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=8086378151106871724&q=BrainGate&total=10&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=1
Future Enhancements • Memory Upgrades • Mathematical processors/implants • Multi-dimensional links • Visual encoders • Encryption implants • Human Language Translators
Ethical Concerns • See White House Council on Bioethics • Also European Commission – Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies • Also PEEP • We will deal with this later
