Attachment III - Page 8 
(4) 
First there is the ecological price to consider. It is very likely that in at- 
tempting to "perfect" the human species we will succeed in engineering our 
own extinction. Eliminating so called "bad genes" will lead to a dangerous 
narrowing of diversity in the gene pool. Since part of the strength of our 
gene pool consists in its very diversity, including defective genes, tampering 
with it might ultimately lead to extinction of the human race. It should be 
recalled that in the 1950’s genetic modifications were made in wheat strains 
to create bumper crops of "super wheat." When a new strain of disease hit 
the fields, farmers found that their wheat was too delicate to resist. Within 
two years, virtually the entire crop was destroyed. 
We have no doubt that a similar effort to "perfect" the human species by 
eliminating the so called bad genes would prove equally destructive. This 
simple biological fact is so patently obvious that one begins to wonder why it 
is so conveniently ignored by so many of the "experts" in the scientific 
community. Even Dr. Thomas Wagner, the scientist at Ohio University who 
is responsible for the first successful transfer of a gene trait from one 
mammalian species to the embryo of another mammalian species, has gone 
on record as being opposed to genetic engineering of the human germline 
cells because of the potentially devastating effect that such narrowing of 
genetic diversity might have on the ability of the human species to survive 
in the future. Dr. Wagner says, 
It is a terrible mistake to make a permanent, heritable change, 
even if it appears to be for the better, in a human being's 
genetic make-up. We don't know what the future brings, and 
[ 323 ] 
