CorporealSemiotics:TheBodyoftheText/theTextoftheBody 341
the potential of making human, but basically all forms of organic life,
subjecttointerventionanddesign.^25 Atthispoint,thefocusismostlyon
late-onset hereditary diseases or diagnostic testing of fetuses and
newborns (see below) but biological redesign already has the potential
of changing people's attitude toward their lives (and that of others): "as
soonasitcommitsthatpersonconcernedto aspecific life projector,in
anycase,putsspecificrestrictionsonhisfreedomtochoosealifeofhis
own"(Habermas,FutureofHumanNature61).Becausetheyareaiming
at the building blocks of life, new biotechnologies are capable of
expanding the discretionary autonomy of human beings vis-à-vis their
biological endowment. In the dawning "golden age of biotechnology"
(Kass 9), biology is no longer destiny, rather the site of active, shaping
interventionsintothebody.
Sofar,geneticscreening(ortesting)hasbeenthekeysitewherethe
promissory dimension of the new (bio-)technologies has become
practical. As an "analysis of DNA samples to detect the presence of a
gene or genes associated with an inherited disorder" ("Genetic
Screening"),geneticscreeningrevealsinformationaboutpotentialhealth
risks. Such information may be pertinent and help people avoid these
risks or it may not; how is one to relate to the prediction that one has a
43percentchanceofgettingdiabetesatsomepointlaterinlife?Inview
of the limited predictive value of many tests, critics have called genes
"surreptitious narrative double agents" (Roof 48) that promise
information but produce confusion. In any case, genetic screening
involves important ethical issues, including those about the right to
knowandtherightnottoknow.^26
Reproductive cloning has so far had the highest profile in this
context.^27 Whether seen as "preventive medicine or manipulation of
fate" (Henn 288), right now, genetic screening is the site where
molecular biology has left the laboratory and begun to affect the lives
(^25) These issues are in the U.S. usually framed under the term ELSI (for ethical,
legal,andsocialimplications).
(^26) For more information cf. "What Is Genetic Testing?"Genetics Home
Reference.U.S. National Library of Medicine, 13 June 2017. Web. 17 June
2017.
(^27) Cf. Dijck, José van. "Cloning Humans, Cloning Literature: Genetics and the
ImaginationDeficit."NewGeneticsandSociety18.1(1999):9-22.Print.