Aimee Mullins, a 1996 Paralympic Games record-breaker, is a popular face of the next generation of prosthetics. Today, she has a dozen pairs of legs that grant her various advantages that she would not otherwise enjoy with her born legs: speed, beauty, height, and so forth. Through new innovations in prosthetics, she and other paraplegics redefine what the body can be through testament of their daily lives. They can transform their bodies through a growing variety of superhuman appendages which they often view as enablement contrary to societal precepts.
On a much more intimate level, stem cell research and innovation is doing the same thing - empowering humans to overcome natural detriments. Instead of attaching limbs when they are lost or broken, we can grow them. Instead of transporting a heart, spleen, or other muscle tissue, we can simply grow it. The possibilities of generation and regeneration are seemingly endless although strict regulation will undoubtedly curb naive or corrupt development in this industry.
Obama's recent executive order to overturn Bush's policy on stem cell research is unquestionably warranted, in my opinion, despite mixed reviews and will burgeon medical breakthroughs to cure universal ailments and defects, allowing everyone (or those who can afford it...for now) a certain standard of life beyond food, air, and shelter and someday education, community, Internet, and resources to start a business. We have come a long way and should not stop now; however, stem cell progress will come at a high cost along an extreme vein of lifeboat ethics or distributism involving once naturally selected traits that will soon to be cultured resources if not already.
While I champion the benefits of prosthetics and stem cell research, I am aware of the dangers. Similar to the way prosthetic innovation seeded now cosmetic surgery involving collagen, botox, and silicone implants in every nook and cranny of our fleshly fabric, stem cell innovation has been likened to eugenetics and has a high potential of re-popularizing it to the detriment of humanity before we know it's too late. We face and have faced for some time similar tough decisions with respect to guns, drugs (notably prescriptions), sex, and so on. Stakes are higher with every decision we make and I do believe, to some extent, that individual empowerment has cheapened life for many. With a personal arsenal of assault weapons, a single person can take the lives of many in several hours. Within a night or over our lifetimes, we ingest myriad drugs that alter our body chemistry and could easily take our lives. And teen pregnancy, casual sex, extramarital sex, paid sex, virtual sex, and unprotected sex threaten the sanctity of human health, relationships, and romance.
These stories are reported daily, sometimes even hourly or minute-by-minute. I cannot attest to the reason for this as I have no done the research. But it scares me. Worst case scenario, in our quest for a super-race and individual freedoms, we end up destroying ourselves and many others in the blink of an eye. But I'm an optimist and believe in the wisdom of our collective despite the daily instances of ignorance, neglect, disregard, and premeditated malice.
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