If he could read Michael Fumento's new book, "Bio- Evolution: How Biotechnology Is Changing Our World," Thomas Robert Malthus would be forced to say, "Never mind."
Malthus (1766-1834), renowned for his pessimistic predictions regarding the future of humanity - particularly about the prospects for having a sufficient food supply for the growing population - would be shell-shocked to learn how very off-base he was.
Once they read this book, modern-day gloom and doom prophet Jeremy Rifkin and his British counterpart, Dr. Mae-Wan Ho - folks Fumento calls "futurephobes" - will have to go back to the drawing board and think of new ways to scare people about biotechnology.
Fumento, in his most ambitious work yet, mounts a solidly scientific defense of wide-ranging applications of genetic engineering. (Rifkin calls agricultural biotechnology "the most radical uncontrolled experiment we have ever seen;" Ho opines that "the release of transgenic organisms is much worse than nuclear weapons.")
In a consumer-friendly, entertaining style, the author introduces us to our future, one that will utilize more and more complex applications of biotechnology. What is in store for us, he says, is exciting beyond belief:
- An incredible spectrum of cancer therapies. Researchers are well on their way to developing biotech-based "cancer vaccines targeting leukemia, cancers of the breast, ovaries, pancreas, lymph glands, brain, colon and virtually every other malignancy."These vaccines will be used both as therapy (in people who already have cancer) and as prophylaxis (to prevent the onset of malignancies). Another attack on cancer involves "anti-angiogenesis" - mechanisms that literally choke off the supply of blood to a tumor, causing it to stop growing and perhaps even disappear.
- A spectrum of medicines and therapies that will prolong healthy, productive life. Biotech drugs, for example, will result in a direct assault on Alzheimer's disease, the major cause of senility in the U.S. Already, studies on aging rhesus monkeys have shown enormous progress in restoring neurons and reigniting nerve fibers that transmit messages between neurons.As to another curse of aging, bone loss, the FDA has already approved a biotech drug, Forteo (Lilly), which does not just prevent deterioration of bones in middle-aged and older people but actually regrows bone tissue.
- Pharmaceuticals that can be produced in massive quantities at little cost. Using chemicals extracted from plants, milk and chicken eggs, proteins can be accumulated for use in therapies against cystic fibrosis, cholera, hepatitis B and more.
- More nutritious, safer, better-tasting foods. Allergens (like those in peanuts) will be removed. Offensive tastes (like bitterness) can be purged.
- Microbes and plants that clean up toxic and radioactive waste. Bioremediation first received press attention 14 years ago when the Exxon Valdez ran aground in Alaska and 11 million gallons of crude oil gushed into the ocean. Early forms of bioremediation came to the rescue to "eat" the oil. More sophisticated use of microbes will soon be available to make our environment even more pristine.
- Techniques to "turn back the clock."In l999, Italian researchers removed a gene from lab mice and found they lived one-third longer than normal. Is the fountain of youth on our doorstep?Countless focus groups have pointed out that consumers have been slow to embrace biotechnolgy because they see no real benefit in it for them. "Only big industry will profit," they say. This book could change all of that.
Indeed, readers of a certain age will come away from Fumento's book wishing they were 30 years younger so they can experience the benefits of the revolution to come. What is on the horizon is truly breathtaking.