354 RüdigerKunow
posesimportantquestionsattheintersectionofethicsandculture:While
wewouldprobablyhaveverylittlequarrelwithputtingthenewbiotech
to use for alleviating bodily suffering, as in type II diabetes or some
cancers, what about a post-menopausal woman biotechnologically
enabled to give birth or a 70 year-old man empowered with the help of
Viagratofatherchildren?
Already today, before the promises of biotechnology are fully
realized, it is possible to speak of a whole new "regime of living"
(Collier and Lakoff 22, 39), a regime in which individuals or
collectivities scan the corporeal status quo for as yet unrealized
possibilities. This new regime is no longer content with knowledge and
control of life asisbut seeks to know and control life in its future,
"demanding action in the vital present in the name of vital futures to
come..."(Clarkeetal.,"TheoreticalandSubstantiveIntroduction"7).^48
Asaresult,humanembodimentisnolongerseenasanendowment,and
thusagiven,butinsteadasessentiallyaproject,^49 aplannedundertaking
withadefinedgoalandpurpose.Thecorporealityofagivenhumanlife
is thus invested with a future-directedness because the body envisioned
istobeinboosterishlanguage"abetterversionofourselves.Forus,and
for others" (Constantini n. pag.). Genetic interventions can thus be seen
asan"absentbodyproject"(Gimlin699),onethatmayneverevenreach
(^48) A recent prominent example of such future-directed action would be actress
Angelina Jolie's double mastectomy on the grounds of her carrying a "faulty"
gene,BRCA1,givingheran80+percentprobabilityofdevelopingbreastcancer
(Jolien.pag.).ThedebatesparkedbyJolie'sdecisionandhergoingpublicabout
it shows how much the genomic regime brings into play fundamental
assumptions about human life, the human body, and our relationship to the
biological basis of our existence. Whatever side one chooses in this debate that
emerged in the aftermath of Jolie's decision, one thing seems reasonably clear:
suchananticipatoryattitudetowardaperson'slife-in-timemakesusthinkofthat
life in terms of a future perfect, both time-wise (the perspective of the future)
andstatus-wise(amoreperfectselfasagoaltobeachieved).
(^49) To a certain but more limited sense, human life has always been a project, as
for example cosmetic surgery or weight-loss programs show. Genetic projects
are, on the other hand, much more revolutionary, not least because they affect
thefuturelivesoffuturepersons.