The eradication or abolition of suffering is the concept of using biotechnology to create a permanent absence of involuntary pain and suffering in all sentient beings.
The discovery of modern anesthesia in the 19th century was an early breakthrough in the elimination of pain during surgery, but acceptance was not universal. Some medical practitioners at the time believed that anesthesia was an artificial and harmful intervention in the body's natural response to injury.[1] Opposition to anesthesia has since dissipated; however, the prospect of eradicating pain raises similar concerns about interfering with life's natural functions.[2]
People who are naturally incapable of feeling pain or unpleasant sensations due to rare conditions like pain asymbolia or congenital insensitivity to pain have been studied to discover the biological and genetic reasons for their pain-free lives.[3] A Scottish woman with a previously unreported genetic mutation in a FAAHpseudogene (dubbed FAAH-OUT) with resultant elevated anandamide levels was reported in 2019 to be immune to anxiety, unable to experience fear, and insensitive to pain. The frequent burns and cuts she had due to her full hypoalgesia healed quicker than average.[4][5][6]
In 1990, Medical Hypotheses published an article by L. S. Mancini on the "genetic engineering of a world without pain":[7]
A hypothesis is presented to the effect that everything adaptive which is achievable with a mind capable of experiencing varying degrees of both pleasure and pain (the human condition as we know it) could be achieved with a mind capable of experiencing only varying degrees of pleasure.
The development of gene editing techniques like CRISPR has raised the prospect that "scientists can identify the causes of certain unusual people's physical superpowers and use gene editing to grant them to others."[8] Geneticist George Church has commented on the potential future of replacing pain with a painless sensory system:[9]
I imagine what this would be like on another planet and in the future, and... given that imagined future, whether we would be willing to come back to where we are now. Rather than saying whether we're willing to go forward... ask whether you're willing to come back.
Ethics and philosophyedit
Ethicists and philosophers in the schools of hedonism and utilitarianism, especially negative utilitarianism, have debated the merits of eradicating suffering.[10]Transhumanist philosopher David Pearce, in The Hedonistic Imperative (1995), argues that the abolition of suffering is both technically feasible and an issue of moral urgency,[11] stating that: "It is predicted that the world's last unpleasant experience will be a precisely dateable event."[12]
The philosopher Nick Bostrom, director of the Future of Humanity Institute, advises a more cautious approach due to pain's function in protecting individuals from harm. However, Bostrom supports the core idea of using biotechnology to get rid of "a huge amount of unnecessary and undeserved suffering."[10] It has also been argued that the eradication of suffering through biotechnology may bring about unwanted consequences, and arguments have been made that transhumanism is not the only philosophy worthy of consideration regarding the question of suffering — many people view suffering as one aspect in a dualist understanding of psychological and physical functioning, without which pleasure could not exist.[13]
Animal welfareedit
In 2009, Adam Shriver suggested replacing animals in factory farming with genetically engineered animals with a reduced or absent capacity to suffer and feel pain.[14] Shriver and McConnachie argued that people who wish to improve animal welfare should support gene editing in addition to plant-based diets and cultured meat.[15]
Katrien Devolder and Matthias Eggel proposed gene editing research animals to remove pain and suffering. This would be an intermediate step towards eventually stopping all experimentation on animals and adopting alternatives.[16]
Concerning wild-animal suffering, CRISPR-based gene drives have been suggested as a cost-effective way of spreading benign alleles in sexually reproducing species.[17][18][19] To limit gene drives spreading indefinitely (for test programmes, for example), the Sculpting Evolution group at the MIT Media Lab developed a self-exhausting form of CRISPR-based gene drive called a "daisy-chain drive."[20][21] For potential adverse effects of a gene drive, "[s]everal genetic mechanisms for limiting or eliminating gene drives have been proposed and/or developed, including synthetic resistance, reversal drives, and immunizing reversal drives."[22]
^Meyer, Rachel; Desai, Sukumar P. (October 2015). "Accepting pain over comfort: resistance to the use of anesthesia in the mid-19th century". Journal of Anesthesia History. 1 (4): 115–121. doi:10.1016/j.janh.2015.07.027. PMID 26828088.
^Hildebrandt, Eleanor (2020-05-19). "Scientists may soon be able to turn off pain with gene editing: should they?". leapsmag. Leaps by Bayer.
^Shaer, Matthew (May 2019). "The Family That Feels Almost No Pain". Smithsonian Magazine.
^Murphy, Heather (2019-03-28). "At 71, She's Never Felt Pain or Anxiety. Now Scientists Know Why". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-05-27.
^Habib, Abdella M.; Okorokov, Andrei L.; Hill, Matthew N.; Bras, Jose T.; Lee, Man-Cheung; Li, Shengnan; Gossage, Samuel J.; van Drimmelen, Marie; Morena, Maria; Houlden, Henry; Ramirez, Juan D. (August 2019). "Microdeletion in a FAAH pseudogene identified in a patient with high anandamide concentrations and pain insensitivity". British Journal of Anaesthesia. 123 (2): e249–e253. doi:10.1016/j.bja.2019.02.019. PMC6676009. PMID 30929760.
^Sample, Ian (2019-03-28). "Scientists find genetic mutation that makes woman feel no pain". The Guardian. Retrieved 2020-05-30.
^Mancini, L. S. (1990). "Riley-Day Syndrome, brain stimulation and the genetic engineering of a world without pain". Medical Hypotheses. 31 (3): 201–207. CiteSeerX10.1.1.628.3624. doi:10.1016/0306-9877(90)90093-t. PMID 2189064.
^Regalado, Antonio (2019-08-22). "The next trick for CRISPR is gene-editing pain away". MIT Technology Review.
^Church, George; Perry, Lucas (2020-05-15). "FLI Podcast: On the Future of Computation, Synthetic Biology, and Life with George Church". Future of Life Institute.
^ abPower, Katherine (July–August 2006). "The End of Suffering". Philosophy Now (56).
^Dvorsky, George (2012-09-27). "Should we eliminate the human ability to feel pain?". Gizmodo.
^Pearce, David (1995). "The Hedonistic Imperative". HEDWEB.
^Renstrom, Joelle (2018). "It's the End of the World as We Know It and We Feel Fantastic: Examining the End of Suffering". NANO: New American Notes Online. 13. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
^Shriver, Adam (2009). "Knocking Out Pain in Livestock: Can Technology Succeed Where Morality has Stalled?". Neuroethics. 2 (3): 115–124. doi:10.1007/s12152-009-9048-6. S2CID 10504334.
^Shriver, Adam; McConnachie, Emilie (2018). "Genetically Modifying Livestock for Improved Welfare: A Path Forward". Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics. 31 (2): 161–180. doi:10.1007/s10806-018-9719-6. S2CID 158274840.
^Devolder, Katrien; Eggel, Matthias (2019). "No Pain, No Gain? In Defence of Genetically Disenhancing (Most) Research Animals". Animals. 9 (4): 154. doi:10.3390/ani9040154. PMC6523187. PMID 30970545.
^Johannsen, Kyle (2017-04-01). "Animal Rights and the Problem of r-Strategists". Ethical Theory and Moral Practice. 20 (2): 333–345. doi:10.1007/s10677-016-9774-x. ISSN 1572-8447. S2CID 151950095.
^Pearce, David (2016–2020). "Compassionate Biology: How CRISPR-based 'gene drives' could cheaply, rapidly and sustainably reduce suffering throughout the living world". Hedweb. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
^Esvelt, Kevin (2019-08-30). "When Are We Obligated To Edit Wild Creatures?". leapsmag. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
^Noble, Charleston; Min, John; Olejarz, Jason; Buchthal, Joanna; Chavez, Alejandro; Smidler, Andrea L.; DeBenedictis, Erika A.; Church, George M.; Nowak, Martin A.; Esvelt, Kevin M. (2019-04-23). "Daisy-chain gene drives for the alteration of local populations". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 116 (17): 8275–8282. Bibcode:2019PNAS..116.8275N. doi:10.1073/pnas.1716358116. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC6486765. PMID 30940750.
^Esvelt, Kevin. "Daisy Drive Systems". Sculpting Evolution Group. MIT Media Lab. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
^Vella, Michael R.; Gunning, Christian E.; Lloyd, Alun L.; Gould, Fred (2017-09-08). "Evaluating strategies for reversing CRISPR-Cas9 gene drives". Scientific Reports. 7 (1): 11038. Bibcode:2017NatSR...711038V. doi:10.1038/s41598-017-10633-2. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC5591286. PMID 28887462.
Further readingedit
Kianpour, Connor; Paez, Eze (2021-02-16). "Red in Tooth and Claw No More: Animal Rights and the Permissibility to Redesign Nature". White Horse Press. 31 (2): 211–231. doi:10.3197/096327121X16081160834777. S2CID 234109685.
Paez, Eze (2020-04-01). "A Kantian ethics of paradise engineering". Analysis. 80 (2): 283–293. doi:10.1093/analys/anz077. ISSN 0003-2638.
Levy, Ariel (2020-01-13). "A World Without Pain". The New Yorker.
Waxman, Stephen G. (2018). Chasing Men on Fire: The Story of the Search for a Pain Gene. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. ISBN9780262037402.
Pearce, David (2017). Can Biotechnology Abolish Suffering?. North Carolina: The Neuroethics Foundation. ISBN9781386842149.
Specter, Michael (2016-12-26). "Rewriting the Code of Life". The New Yorker.
January 01, 1970
eradication, suffering, eradication, abolition, suffering, concept, using, biotechnology, create, permanent, absence, involuntary, pain, suffering, sentient, beings, contents, biology, medicine, ethics, philosophy, animal, welfare, also, references, further, r. The eradication or abolition of suffering is the concept of using biotechnology to create a permanent absence of involuntary pain and suffering in all sentient beings Contents 1 Biology and medicine 2 Ethics and philosophy 3 Animal welfare 4 See also 5 References 6 Further readingBiology and medicine editThe discovery of modern anesthesia in the 19th century was an early breakthrough in the elimination of pain during surgery but acceptance was not universal Some medical practitioners at the time believed that anesthesia was an artificial and harmful intervention in the body s natural response to injury 1 Opposition to anesthesia has since dissipated however the prospect of eradicating pain raises similar concerns about interfering with life s natural functions 2 People who are naturally incapable of feeling pain or unpleasant sensations due to rare conditions like pain asymbolia or congenital insensitivity to pain have been studied to discover the biological and genetic reasons for their pain free lives 3 A Scottish woman with a previously unreported genetic mutation in a FAAH pseudogene dubbed FAAH OUT with resultant elevated anandamide levels was reported in 2019 to be immune to anxiety unable to experience fear and insensitive to pain The frequent burns and cuts she had due to her full hypoalgesia healed quicker than average 4 5 6 In 1990 Medical Hypotheses published an article by L S Mancini on the genetic engineering of a world without pain 7 A hypothesis is presented to the effect that everything adaptive which is achievable with a mind capable of experiencing varying degrees of both pleasure and pain the human condition as we know it could be achieved with a mind capable of experiencing only varying degrees of pleasure The development of gene editing techniques like CRISPR has raised the prospect that scientists can identify the causes of certain unusual people s physical superpowers and use gene editing to grant them to others 8 Geneticist George Church has commented on the potential future of replacing pain with a painless sensory system 9 I imagine what this would be like on another planet and in the future and given that imagined future whether we would be willing to come back to where we are now Rather than saying whether we re willing to go forward ask whether you re willing to come back Ethics and philosophy editEthicists and philosophers in the schools of hedonism and utilitarianism especially negative utilitarianism have debated the merits of eradicating suffering 10 Transhumanist philosopher David Pearce in The Hedonistic Imperative 1995 argues that the abolition of suffering is both technically feasible and an issue of moral urgency 11 stating that It is predicted that the world s last unpleasant experience will be a precisely dateable event 12 The philosopher Nick Bostrom director of the Future of Humanity Institute advises a more cautious approach due to pain s function in protecting individuals from harm However Bostrom supports the core idea of using biotechnology to get rid of a huge amount of unnecessary and undeserved suffering 10 It has also been argued that the eradication of suffering through biotechnology may bring about unwanted consequences and arguments have been made that transhumanism is not the only philosophy worthy of consideration regarding the question of suffering many people view suffering as one aspect in a dualist understanding of psychological and physical functioning without which pleasure could not exist 13 Animal welfare editIn 2009 Adam Shriver suggested replacing animals in factory farming with genetically engineered animals with a reduced or absent capacity to suffer and feel pain 14 Shriver and McConnachie argued that people who wish to improve animal welfare should support gene editing in addition to plant based diets and cultured meat 15 Katrien Devolder and Matthias Eggel proposed gene editing research animals to remove pain and suffering This would be an intermediate step towards eventually stopping all experimentation on animals and adopting alternatives 16 Concerning wild animal suffering CRISPR based gene drives have been suggested as a cost effective way of spreading benign alleles in sexually reproducing species 17 18 19 To limit gene drives spreading indefinitely for test programmes for example the Sculpting Evolution group at the MIT Media Lab developed a self exhausting form of CRISPR based gene drive called a daisy chain drive 20 21 For potential adverse effects of a gene drive s everal genetic mechanisms for limiting or eliminating gene drives have been proposed and or developed including synthetic resistance reversal drives and immunizing reversal drives 22 See also editAntinaturalism Appeal to nature Biohappiness Effective altruism Pain in animals Prioritarianism Suffering focused ethics Suffering risks Transhumanism Wild animal sufferingReferences edit Meyer Rachel Desai Sukumar P October 2015 Accepting pain over comfort resistance to the use of anesthesia in the mid 19th century Journal of Anesthesia History 1 4 115 121 doi 10 1016 j janh 2015 07 027 PMID 26828088 Hildebrandt Eleanor 2020 05 19 Scientists may soon be able to turn off pain with gene editing should they leapsmag Leaps by Bayer Shaer Matthew May 2019 The Family That Feels Almost No Pain Smithsonian Magazine Murphy Heather 2019 03 28 At 71 She s Never Felt Pain or Anxiety Now Scientists Know Why The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved 2020 05 27 Habib Abdella M Okorokov Andrei L Hill Matthew N Bras Jose T Lee Man Cheung Li Shengnan Gossage Samuel J van Drimmelen Marie Morena Maria Houlden Henry Ramirez Juan D August 2019 Microdeletion in a FAAH pseudogene identified in a patient with high anandamide concentrations and pain insensitivity British Journal of Anaesthesia 123 2 e249 e253 doi 10 1016 j bja 2019 02 019 PMC 6676009 PMID 30929760 Sample Ian 2019 03 28 Scientists find genetic mutation that makes woman feel no pain The Guardian Retrieved 2020 05 30 Mancini L S 1990 Riley Day Syndrome brain stimulation and the genetic engineering of a world without pain Medical Hypotheses 31 3 201 207 CiteSeerX 10 1 1 628 3624 doi 10 1016 0306 9877 90 90093 t PMID 2189064 Regalado Antonio 2019 08 22 The next trick for CRISPR is gene editing pain away MIT Technology Review Church George Perry Lucas 2020 05 15 FLI Podcast On the Future of Computation Synthetic Biology and Life with George Church Future of Life Institute a b Power Katherine July August 2006 The End of Suffering Philosophy Now 56 Dvorsky George 2012 09 27 Should we eliminate the human ability to feel pain Gizmodo Pearce David 1995 The Hedonistic Imperative HEDWEB Renstrom Joelle 2018 It s the End of the World as We Know It and We Feel Fantastic Examining the End of Suffering NANO New American Notes Online 13 Retrieved 3 January 2022 Shriver Adam 2009 Knocking Out Pain in Livestock Can Technology Succeed Where Morality has Stalled Neuroethics 2 3 115 124 doi 10 1007 s12152 009 9048 6 S2CID 10504334 Shriver Adam McConnachie Emilie 2018 Genetically Modifying Livestock for Improved Welfare A Path Forward Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 31 2 161 180 doi 10 1007 s10806 018 9719 6 S2CID 158274840 Devolder Katrien Eggel Matthias 2019 No Pain No Gain In Defence of Genetically Disenhancing Most Research Animals Animals 9 4 154 doi 10 3390 ani9040154 PMC 6523187 PMID 30970545 Johannsen Kyle 2017 04 01 Animal Rights and the Problem of r Strategists Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 20 2 333 345 doi 10 1007 s10677 016 9774 x ISSN 1572 8447 S2CID 151950095 Pearce David 2016 2020 Compassionate Biology How CRISPR based gene drives could cheaply rapidly and sustainably reduce suffering throughout the living world Hedweb Retrieved 2020 06 02 Esvelt Kevin 2019 08 30 When Are We Obligated To Edit Wild Creatures leapsmag Retrieved 2020 06 02 Noble Charleston Min John Olejarz Jason Buchthal Joanna Chavez Alejandro Smidler Andrea L DeBenedictis Erika A Church George M Nowak Martin A Esvelt Kevin M 2019 04 23 Daisy chain gene drives for the alteration of local populations Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 116 17 8275 8282 Bibcode 2019PNAS 116 8275N doi 10 1073 pnas 1716358116 ISSN 0027 8424 PMC 6486765 PMID 30940750 Esvelt Kevin Daisy Drive Systems Sculpting Evolution Group MIT Media Lab Retrieved 2020 06 02 Vella Michael R Gunning Christian E Lloyd Alun L Gould Fred 2017 09 08 Evaluating strategies for reversing CRISPR Cas9 gene drives Scientific Reports 7 1 11038 Bibcode 2017NatSR 711038V doi 10 1038 s41598 017 10633 2 ISSN 2045 2322 PMC 5591286 PMID 28887462 Further reading editKianpour Connor Paez Eze 2021 02 16 Red in Tooth and Claw No More Animal Rights and the Permissibility to Redesign Nature White Horse Press 31 2 211 231 doi 10 3197 096327121X16081160834777 S2CID 234109685 Paez Eze 2020 04 01 A Kantian ethics of paradise engineering Analysis 80 2 283 293 doi 10 1093 analys anz077 ISSN 0003 2638 Levy Ariel 2020 01 13 A World Without Pain The New Yorker Waxman Stephen G 2018 Chasing Men on Fire The Story of the Search for a Pain Gene Cambridge MA The MIT Press ISBN 9780262037402 Pearce David 2017 Can Biotechnology Abolish Suffering North Carolina The Neuroethics Foundation ISBN 9781386842149 Specter Michael 2016 12 26 Rewriting the Code of Life The New Yorker Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Eradication of suffering amp oldid 1197461088, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
