Man and the value of life; #2 (Reel 1)

Man and the value of life. WG. University of Cincinnati radio presents international discussing the ethical technical and legal issues surrounding the extension of life through advances in medicine. The lectures are from a symposium sponsored by the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine as a part of the university's 100 50th anniversary celebration. Today we present Dr. Rene Dubow microbiologist author and member of the faculty at Rockefeller University. He will discuss the biological limitations of freedom. Dr. De Bono will be introduced by Dr. Charles herring U.S. professor of neurology and program chairman of the man and life symposium.

Here now is Dr. airing I want to outline the distinguished career. Hi Mabel. Dr. Rainey J. Good bows. The pronunciation American I. Could to Beau's was also born and he was educated in France. Completed his work or a Ph.D. in agricultural sciences in the United States. He has honorary degrees from 22 universities here and abroad among them. Believe it or not an honorary MBA. Since 1927 he's been on the staff of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research and now a Rockefeller University. Except for three years when he was George Fabian professor of comparative pathology and Tropical Medicine at the Harvard University Medical School. Most of his professional life has been devoted to the field of infectious diseases. Among

his best known laboratory achievements are the discovery of an enzyme that decomposes the capsular polysaccharide of pneumococcus. And protects against pneumococcal in. The first isolation and production of an antibiotic. Gram aside and 1939. The development of new techniques for the experimental study of tuberculosis. The definition of the micro floor of the normal gastrointestinal tract. The experimental demonstration that early influence of conditioning here aversive Blee biological and mental development. Increasingly doing the past two and a half decades. He has devoted himself to the study of the biomedical psychological and social problems arising from the effects of the technological environment on modern man. He has discussed these problems in many

books. The last five or the mirage of health. Appeared in one thousand fifty nine The dreams of reason 961 man adapting which I hope many of you have read one thousand sixty five. Man medicine and barmen one hundred sixty eight. And so human an animal in 1968. Dr. De Bose will discuss with us the biological limitation freedom in the. Reading. Ladies and gentlemen. It's about talk about life and here I quote him. Like with a capital of. Pain whose life with

individual. Life of each one of us how we do experience. The events of life. And social life. How we have to integrate. Our living prophecies. And the source of structure. But not to begin with defining individual life. Each one of us is unique. Which means. That there does not exist. Anyone else. Who is like us. I know of course. But they're identical twins. And that their genitive can situation. He's either absolutely or essentially identical. But what. Happens to the expression.

Of these genitive can Baumann. You so profoundly and irreversibly condition. By. Their responses. The question makes to engage in Mentor stimuli. That in practice. Even identical twins. Do become different. Not through change he's. In bad genetic environment. But because of deficiencies. In the phenotypic expression. Of these genetic envelopment. It's one of the first is unprecedented. Because the statistical chance. Practically nil. That in their way of Gene. Identical to the when.

Any one of us has today. Has ever occurred in the past. And even. Though it had occurred. The responses to the environment of the past would be so different. From the responses we make today. That in practice. That person would be different. And each one of us is only possible for exactly the same reason. The area of genes that characterizes each one of us is not likely to ever occur again. The statistical probability. Is negligible. And if it should occur. The rest can cease to be an environment of the future. Would be such. That. Typically. We would. Have. A different person. And if I may. Select. An example from his

own that I think. Even meet. Someone. With the genetic endowment. Of. Bittorrent or barely yours. Should have been produced. Repeatedly in the past. It's certain. That they would have. Produced a different kind of music. Because they would have been conditioned. During their early development. By. A different kind. Of environment. I think you back Berlioz a bit of where I'm going us today. Big could not possibly. Compose the kind of music. That they did compose. So part of the. Definition of life. With a small. Step each one of us starts with a certain kind of genetic

environment. Which because of these experiences. Becomes converted. Into something that we call. The individual person. And when I speak of experiences. I'm speaking. Of experiences. During input are you talking like. And I'm speaking not so and perhaps especially. Of the experiences during the very early. Phases of like. Four to six. First years of life being certain they thought about logical reasoning. That could be. Illustrated and which by the way I have developed at length. In my last but the witch doctor having eluded so human and animal. Those early experiences of you touring life some of the

first four to five years of life. Established the pattern. Upon which the subsequent development. Has to be built and therefore have consequences. That extend. Throughout the whole lifespan. When I have been speaking the individual person. But in reality the seed of abstraction. Has no reality. No. Living creature and especially. No human being can exist alone. Base no existence. Except. AS. A community. Not only as. Physical. Pattern but more importantly as part of the social environment. That shapes a very aspect. Of personality.

And to make this concrete. Let me take you for a. Minute or so. When they walk through any one of the museums. In any one of our cities. And you will. See immediately. That the. American Teenager of today. Could not possibly fit. In the armor. Of a medieval knight. The American teen ager of today is very much taller as we all know. Where. Medieval warriors. Or. A young woman of today. Could not possibly fit more of them would. In. The rest of. It. An 18th century bell. That kind of blessed with but kinetically because. A mini skirt. On one of our young

women. And this is less well-known but. Can be very well documented. There has occurred. An extraordinary acceleration. Of physiological development. Which can best be documented. By observing the acceleration in sexual development. Again it was sort of human and I have presented. The evidence. That. About a hundred years ago. The age of first menstruation. In Europe as well as in this country. Approximately 16. With us today as you know practically all European countries. Certainly in this country and for that matter. In countries.

Which have accepted the ways of Western civilization. The age of first menstruation these 12 and these. Growing down to be even more accelerated now the age of first menstruation is simply a concrete example that the process. Of maturation has been. Immensely accelerated time I would discuss the enormous consequences of the. Behavior. Of young people. Was it possible to believe. That such a profound change in the rate of matter. Does not result in profound changes in behavior or. Performance. But what I want to. Emphasize. Here.

Is that. Those changes in the way. Physiological maturation. Not at all. The consequences. Of changes in general. And exclusively. The consequences. Of changes. In the ways of life. I think we can understand fairly well little more completely the nature of the changes. But what is important here. Is that. What becomes. Physically and mentally. Largely. Determined. By. The kind of social environment. In which it functions and that it produces a. Kind of limitation to

his freedom because he has no control or cannot possibly have any control. Over the conditions that prevail during. Development during the first few years of life. Then. Another kind of. Biological limitation. Comes from the fact which I already mention that no human being no man can. And so the matter can't even. Go to exist. Without. Existing. In it get up. And move or. Must. Control these activities in such a manner. That it

permits the survival of the group. And its plainly obvious of time permits. I shall give you a few examples. But there are all sorts. Of freedoms of individual freedom. That we cannot exercise. Because. We would bring about. The destruction of the group of which we are a part. Of it by. Would destroy ourselves. Well being broad generalities. Perhaps. Will help to define. The structure of the remarks of the point of view that I want to convey to you namely. That. Biological life and I believe it is it with this kind of biological life. To life with a capital L of which.

Professor Baz and I spoke. That life. Has to be discussed. In. Conflict. Between. The sexes is equally. Essential components. Of existence. Those. Factors. That determine. The characteristics of the individual. And by the way we are individually the means that you cannot divide the seas. Which has to be considered whole. And the characteristics. That demand that that individual. Be part of a group. The tension between individual. Life. And social life. These I believe at the basis. Of all the problems we want

to discuss today. Are the kind of attention that I wish to speak those two poles of life. But they have. Used biological learning. To. Not to define me but to state. In terms of. Genetic. Have used in terms. Of this kind of language I had been watching myself with approval in terms of getting with him. I have for 10 years I have been trying to watch myself in my speaking in the writing. Never in terms of. In any case I have been trying. We find the determinants of life.

Genetic. And environmental determinants. But. There is another kind of problem. Which is perhaps even more difficult. And more complex. When life begins. I need to tell you that very important that all problems of conquest. And of. Pain like pain. And I'm sure. That the Big Three will have a great deal to say about it. We all know. It. At that. Very difficult to bring. An end of life. Medical technology. Has made it possible to substitute. One organ after

or to engage in all sorts of substitution. For example with regard to Homo. I shall not speak much about that because. I shall be listening to what Dr. DeBakey has to say. As to the beginning. Any biologist. Knows that in principle and I'm not saying in principle in the very principles which have a very substantial. Scientific basis. The fertilized ovum. Is potentially capable of developing. Into a full organism. You could be placed in a suitable medium. And incubated. Under the proper conditions. So I don't see how one can deny. That the moment. Of fertilization of. Life with

all its potential has begun. But it goes beyond that. Because in. Any living cell. Taken from my body. But thankfully capable. Of recreating. Everything of me. Because. It carries in potential. All the genetic instructions. Necessarily. Folk created me. Whatever I am. So I think practice. The definition of organic. That. Really demands that my body be killed. I have absolutely no doubt and I'm sure that we're just in this room. I think of biologists in this room with agree with me. That the time will come and

could come very soon if we. Directed our pension to this problem where any kind of cells taken from mice. Could eventually. Generate. A new organism. Having. A genetic endowment. As a matter of fact it has not been. Merely an organism's. But it has been done with planes. Some 7 or 8 years ago. For the first time. Many times things. Went past. For example. And only. A big tobacco plant. And by. Kind of skillful menu creation that students. Know how to carry out. One has been able. To

recreate the back of. A complete tomato. Of tobacco planting for all I know it has been done with other plants. What has been done for an imitation planted to be done eventually. With. Animal tissues and with man. So in practice. It seems to me that we must accept as a. Fact That has not yet been legalized because we haven't applied hard. But that would certainly be legalized. But one can't create. Man. Can be a nation of sperm an ovum and a proper kind of incubation. Or. A sexual. Replication. Here I have expressed my

scientific theory. Which. Are. Known to fully supported by all sorts of exacting knowledge. But do I mean by a base that. Should. Be of concern. To the. Practitioners of medicine for example to talk to the doctor. The break you know because. Another doctor. Because human conduct. In any kind. Of activity. Is not the term mean. By. Theoretical possibilities. That can be. Converted into a reality being used in some distant past. But by pragmatic. Imperatives. Physicians sociologists. And jurists. Kemah

be guided in their activities by the carrot of no magic. That science. And the kind of techniques that science would provide in the future. But by the present state of the art. For example in theory. As I stated that. The embryo. Is alive. From the very moment of conception. But in. Practice. According to. The technology that we have developed today. The fetus has to be. More than 20 weeks. Oh. If he's to survive. When born is it premature. So only. At this stage in development. Of the fetus do jury some physicians enjoy a good thing in giving it the same right. As a.

Newborn child. Similarly as I stated in theory. Any cell. Is potentially capable of recreating the human being. But in practice we don't know how to do it now. And. When that has developed then we could be. Practitioners of medicine to see how they handle. The situation. At any given time. It seems to me. The practitioner. Whatever his field of activity. Must let his. Behavior and conduct. Beguile be that. Only by the state. Of the art. In other words by the kind of. Pragmatic attitude.