Salvador Luria by Rena Selya

Author:Rena Selya
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: MIT Press

THE RESPONSIBILITY OF BIOLOGISTS

Luria was quite busy with public discussions of science that spring. In April, he was invited to present at a special symposium on the “Control of Human Heredity and Evolution” organized by his former Indiana colleague Tracy Sonneborn.87 Biologists from a range of disciplines met on April 6 on the occasion of the dedication of a new biology building at Ohio Wesleyan University. The papers and some of the discussions were later published as a series of five essays in a slim volume intended “to arouse public awareness … of the increasing need for intelligent and wise public judgments and actions” on the emerging possibility of control of human heredity and evolution.88 Luria’s essay, “Directed Genetic Change: Perspectives from Molecular Genetics” contained a discussion of “The Responsibility of Biologists,” which emphasized what scientists must do to ensure that their work is used for the good of a free and democratic society.89

Luria began his analysis with general comments on science and society. Because “no science is completely pure since its findings always bear, however indirectly, on human affairs,” all scientists have “an inescapable responsibility” both to find useful applications and to avoid any “line of research that is clearly leading to evil applications.”90 The scientific community as a whole must acknowledge that “science creates power” and that they must therefore always be sure to communicate their findings and any consequences or applications to the general public in order to avoid creating a technocracy. Scientists should share the responsibility for deciding how to use the results of their research with well-educated citizens. This is especially important for researchers in rapidly growing fields such as biological engineering, since “the progress of science is often so rapid … that it creates an imbalance between the power it places in the hands of man and the social conditions in which this power is exerted.” Scientists thus have “an additional, more subtle responsibility” to be alert to the possibility of this rapid expansion, and maintain open communication so that the public will be prepared for the subsequent advances in knowledge.91 According to Luria, in order to fulfill this responsibility, researchers may have to abandon their “habits of skepticism and restraint, of curbing fantasy and distrusting fancy,” which had previously prevented them from confronting the possible useful and harmful uses of radioactivity.92

Luria’s paper for the conference focused mainly on trends in biological research that could someday lead to the control of human genetics through molecular and other biological engineering, through what he called “genetic surgery.” He took the time to raise this issue of scientific responsibility not because he thought that direct control over human heredity was rapidly approaching, but because he felt that this branch of science would have such a major impact on the “basic issues of human values and public policy” that it was crucial to consider these issues early.93 If the infrastructure of science included provisions for this type of communication and education, then when fundamental issues arose there would be a social and political context in which to evaluate them.

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