Attachment III - Page 5 
While the nation has begun to turn its attention to the dangers of nuclear 
war, little or no debate has taken place over the emergence of an entirely 
new technology which in time could very well pose as serious a threat to the 
existence of the human species as the bomb itself. We are referring to 
human genetic engineering. On July 22, 1982 the New York Times published 
a major editorial entitled "Whether to Make Perfect Humans." It will soon 
be possible, says the Times, to fundamentally alter the human species by 
engineering the genetic traits of the sex cells — the sperm and egg. 
Humanity's new found ability to engineer genetic traits could well lead to 
the creation of a new species, as different from homo-sapiens as we are to 
the higher apes. So grave is the threat of human genetic engineering that 
the Times suggests that we consider "the question of whether the human 
germline should be declared inviolable." 
Programming genetic traits into human sex cells subjects the human species 
to the art of technological manipulation and architectural design. 
With the arrival of human genetic engineering, humanity approaches a 
crossroads in its own technological history. It will soon be possible to 
engineer and produce human beings by the same technological design 
principles as we now employ in our industrial processes. 
The wholesale design of human life, in accordance with technological pre- 
requisites, design specifications, and quality controls, raises a fundamental 
question. Nobel laureate biologist Dr. Salvador Lauria puts the question in 
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