Beyond Therapy: Biotechnology and the Pursuit of Happiness

摘要

The product of more than sixteen months of research, reflection, and deliberation, we hope this report will prove a worthy contribution to public understanding of the important questions it considers. In it, we have sought to live up to the charge you gave us when you created this Council, namely, 'to undertake fundamental inquiry into the human and moral significance of developments in biomedical and behavioral science and technology' and 'to facilitate a greater understanding of bioethical issues.' Biotechnology offers exciting and promising prospects for healing the sick and relieving the suffering. But exactly because of their impressive powers to alter the workings of body and mind, the 'dual uses' of the same technologies make them attractive also to people who are not sick but who would use them to look younger, perform better, feel happier, or become more 'perfect.' These applications of biotechnology are already presenting us with some unfamiliar and very difficult challenges.