ABSTRACT
Studies with clones, chimeras, and organoids are contributing to a rapid and expansive increase in our understanding of the processes of organismal development. The knowledge and technical possibilities generated by the growing field of developmental biology will open new avenues for attempts to enhance human form and function in radical ways. Yet the insights of developmental biology also command a deep reverence for the mystery of organismic unity; the organism must be considered in its dynamic integration of coordinated complexity. In the human being, the organizing principle of the body permits conscious comprehension of our world and freedom of aspiration toward imagined ideals. Phylogeny and ontogeny suggest that the human body may already be optimized for flexibility of purpose, adapted for adaptability, a “general purpose organism.” Attempts to accentuate, augment, alter, or add to human powers may come at the cost of destabilizing the balance of parts in our highly refined biological system – and with it, our unique way of life, especially its social, mental, and spiritual dimensions. Therefore, the appropriate paradigm for the moral evaluation of human enhancement is that of sacrifice, an action with potential loss undertaken in the service of a higher good.
