Get Bionomic
The Loss of Genetic Innocence

Physics was the science of the 20th century. Biology is the science of the 21st century. Biology is the basic metaphor of the new civilization. The "biologizing" of life has only just begun.

Bionomics is literally the merger of biological and economic theory, or the coming together of the world of the born and the world of the made. Everything is becoming more biological, even economic systems.

The more technology is friendlier to humans, the more biological it becomes.

The first industrial revolution (The Industrial Ere) gave machines more than muscles and power. It also gave them intelligence and senses, making the need less for human operators.

In the Information Era, the primary economic resource is no longer land, or labor, or capital, but knowledge. The third industrial revolution (The Bionomic Ere) brings together mind and machine.

With the boomers a new breed of senior citizen is emerging. Already old age begins at 80, not at 65. What moderns looked like at 65, postmoderns will do anything not to look like until the day they die.

Boomers are not retiring where their parents retired. Boomers are looking for a better quality of life, which they define in terms of relationships and culture and creativity and experiences.

Can the church help those wanting to become "aged to perfection"--those wanting to be "an educated person" with up-to-date and continuing understanding of what is going on and preparation for what is coming?

It is time the church understood itself as a leader in the "health" business. The church as a wellness center.

Now What? Net Notes

1. Have someone bring to the group their cyberpet. Tamagotchis were named the "Toy of the Year" in 1997, and Manhattan’s F. A. O. Schwartz sold out its initial shipment of 10,000 in one day. Discuss the concept of a "virtual pet" and the field of artificial life (arranging food, rest, and exercise for digital pets). Log-on to Web sites such as Tokyo’s L-life Garden, London’s TechnoSphere, and Tom Ray’s Tierra. Have someone from your group adopt one of these tiny creatures resembling life at the molecular level and then report on their experience. Visit as a group the pet cybertary at http://www.d-3.com/deadpet.

The newest virtual gadget is My Lover—it appreciates virtual flowers, is addicted to chocolates, and gives virtual kisses.

2. Did anyone not notice the slinky half-human, half-Borg Seven of Nine (played by Jeri Ryan) on the TV program Star Trek: Voyager? There are now dozens of Web sites honoring her http://www.theManiacs/com/jerilynn5.htm, and five action figures for kids to buy. Visit one of her Web sites.

3. The Net-Gens are creating new species in their computer programs and watching them grow. Visit http://www.cs.amherst.edu/~jer/CS21.species.html.

4. One of the most comprehensive health sites is Wellness Web, which integrates conventional and alternative information about diet, disease, drugs, and treatments. Visit http://www.wellweb.com.

5. BioPure Corporation of Cambridge, MA, bioengineers hemoglobin to create artificial blood. Visit http://www.biopure.com. CryoLife of Kennesaw, GA, is creating "living biologic devices." Visit http://www.cryolife.com/news/cv96p6.html. When 4000 people die in the US alone each year waiting for organs—and another 100,000 die before even getting on the waiting list—are there any serious ethical implications to manufactured life and limb?

6. In 1995, 22% of USAmericans used herbs in their personal health care. About 1500 to 1800 botanicals are sold in the US. Visit the Herb Research Foundation at http://www.herbalgram.org and get a copy of the newsletter Medical Herbalism through http://www.medherb.com.

7. Within a fortnight of the announcement of the cloned sheep Dolly, a group of French investors formed a Bahamas-based company called Clonaid, where people who desire cloning services can visit a clinic for a fee of $200,000. Visit their Website at http://www.clonaid.com.

8. How do you keep up with what is going on in the world of economics? Here’s one way business leaders are increasingly using: go to http://www.dismal.com. Check it out.

9. You don’t think privacy issues are acute? Check out the "Stalker’s Home Page" at http://www.glr.com/stalk.html. From here order your FBI file for viewing. Or see if you are dead—access the Death Index issued by the Social Security Administration. Or test your terrorist profile at this site, the profile that airline officials scan before your flight to see the likelihood that you are a terrorist. I’ll tell you my score if you tell me yours.

10. An interactive privacy game for children—"Privacy Playground: The First Adventure of the Three Little CyberPigs"—has been developed by the Media Awareness Network. This animated computer game for children teaching safety lessons for the information highway can be accessed at http://www.screen.com/mnet/eng/cpigs/cpigs.htm.

11. Every family needs this site marked as a "favorite." It’s the child’s best portal into the Web. In an attempt to provide some "peer review" for the Internet, the Encyclopedia Britannica has launched a free service called "Britannica Internet Guide." You can find it at http://www.ebig.com/. What Britannica’s editors have done is review hundreds of thousands of Web sites and selected those that excel in the following areas:

a. Depth, accuracy, completeness, and utility of information
b. Quality and effectiveness of presentation
c. Credentials and authority of the author or publisher
d. Elegance of design and ease of navigation
e. Frequency of revision
f. Quality of graphics or multimedia

For those few Web sites (65,000) that exceeded in all of these categories, there were the following ratings:
Noteworthy (0 stars)
Recommended (1 star)
Exceptional (2 stars)
Best of the Web (3 stars)

Only 30 made 3 stars, and less than 1% received 2 stars; 18% received a Noteworthy. Don’t send your kids to do research on the Web without checking it out here first. It’s the Internet equivalent of the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval.

12. The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine created the Center for Bioethics in July 1994. Contact its Web site.