Rael awards Jacques Cohen ‘Honorary Guide for Humanity’ title
LAS VEGAS, July 18 – Rael, spiritual leader of the International Raelian Movement (IRM) has awarded the title “Honorary Guide for Humanity” to Dr. Jacques Cohen. According to a statement released today by the IRM, Rael conferred the honor because Cohen assisted in the birth of 30 genetically altered babies whose mothers were infertile and couldn’t otherwise have had children.
“He was the first scientist with the courage to do this,” said Dr. Brigitte Boisselier, IRM spokesperson and head of Clonaid and Stemaid, two companies involved in cytoplasmic transfer outside the United States. “He has been a pioneer in this field for years, demonstrating his willingness to move ahead regardless of opposition. In 2001, when he gave a presentation on the first case of human germline genetic modification resulting in normal healthy children, a huge ethical debate ensued, similar to the human cloning debate.”
Boisselier said Cohen’s clinic at St. Barnabas chose to stop performing cytoplasmic transfers to comply with FDA warning letters threatening enforcement action.
“Now, more than 10 years later, the FDA still hasn’t eased that policy,” she said, adding that the FDA has thus far exhibited a rigid, ridiculously shortsighted outlook on promising new technologies that could alleviate human suffering.
“For example, a Cornell team, led by Nikica Zaninovic, used a virus to add a green fluorescent protein gene to a human embryo left over from an in vitro fertilization procedure,” Boisselier said. “But they didn’t get permission to keep the embryo alive to be certain the new gene had been inserted. The embryo was destroyed after 5 days.”
She said such governmental interference is partly the result of unwarranted fears.
“Why so much fear for a technology that could prevent genetic defects in millions of individuals yet to be born?” Boisselier commented. “It’s important to give homage to Dr. Cohen for his courage in helping 30 infertile women to carry a child thanks to his genetic modification of their eggs. That’s why Rael has decided to award him the highest title recognized by the Raelian Movement.”
Boisselier said human cloning and genetic modification are both fully supported by the Raelian philosophy.
In 2001, in his book “Yes to Human Cloning,” Rael wrote:
“It is a crime against humanity to allow children to be born who will suffer all their lives when we already know how to ensure that only healthy children are born.” Yet he was optimistic that the situation would change soon. In the same book, he predicted:
“The day will come when ‘ethical questions’ about human germline genetic modifications will [themselves] seem totally unethical, since[ such questions] do not take the real happiness of the possible child or the future of humanity into consideration. Wisdom lies in allowing people to choose. If freedom of choice is allowed, the vast majority of parents would want to choose the characteristics of their future child rather than leave them all to chance. No mother in the world wishes anything but the best for her child, with the exception of a few people who are completely submissive to a consciousness-restricting religious belief.”
According to Rael, those with consciousness-restricting religious beliefs should not be allowed to dictate that society permit children to be born with physical monstrosities, or likely to lead lives mired in sickness or with the impairments of handicaps, when we now know how to prevent such suffering through genetic modifications made before birth.
“[Those with limited consciousness] have no right to impose on society the burden of additional handicapped children, for such children are the fruit of the criminal decision to ban genetic modifications,” he wrote.
Boisselier said Cohen now works for a company called Reprogenetics, which is involved in pre-implantation genetic diagnostics.
“The term ‘reprogenetics’ was coined by Lee M. Silver, a professor of molecular biology at Princeton University,” Boisselier said. “He described it as a combination of technologies that will allow parents to pick out the genetic characteristics of their own children and eliminate the disease genes that could be passed on to them.”
She said these new technologies will trigger many changes in society in the decades after their implementation.
“History teaches us that in almost every case of a major scientific advance, some people acted out of fear and ignorance to suppress it,” Boisselier said. “Nevertheless, scientific advances are the only hope for humanity on this planet.”
“He was the first scientist with the courage to do this,” said Dr. Brigitte Boisselier, IRM spokesperson and head of Clonaid and Stemaid, two companies involved in cytoplasmic transfer outside the United States. “He has been a pioneer in this field for years, demonstrating his willingness to move ahead regardless of opposition. In 2001, when he gave a presentation on the first case of human germline genetic modification resulting in normal healthy children, a huge ethical debate ensued, similar to the human cloning debate.”
Boisselier said Cohen’s clinic at St. Barnabas chose to stop performing cytoplasmic transfers to comply with FDA warning letters threatening enforcement action.
“Now, more than 10 years later, the FDA still hasn’t eased that policy,” she said, adding that the FDA has thus far exhibited a rigid, ridiculously shortsighted outlook on promising new technologies that could alleviate human suffering.
“For example, a Cornell team, led by Nikica Zaninovic, used a virus to add a green fluorescent protein gene to a human embryo left over from an in vitro fertilization procedure,” Boisselier said. “But they didn’t get permission to keep the embryo alive to be certain the new gene had been inserted. The embryo was destroyed after 5 days.”
She said such governmental interference is partly the result of unwarranted fears.
“Why so much fear for a technology that could prevent genetic defects in millions of individuals yet to be born?” Boisselier commented. “It’s important to give homage to Dr. Cohen for his courage in helping 30 infertile women to carry a child thanks to his genetic modification of their eggs. That’s why Rael has decided to award him the highest title recognized by the Raelian Movement.”
Boisselier said human cloning and genetic modification are both fully supported by the Raelian philosophy.
In 2001, in his book “Yes to Human Cloning,” Rael wrote:
“It is a crime against humanity to allow children to be born who will suffer all their lives when we already know how to ensure that only healthy children are born.” Yet he was optimistic that the situation would change soon. In the same book, he predicted:
“The day will come when ‘ethical questions’ about human germline genetic modifications will [themselves] seem totally unethical, since[ such questions] do not take the real happiness of the possible child or the future of humanity into consideration. Wisdom lies in allowing people to choose. If freedom of choice is allowed, the vast majority of parents would want to choose the characteristics of their future child rather than leave them all to chance. No mother in the world wishes anything but the best for her child, with the exception of a few people who are completely submissive to a consciousness-restricting religious belief.”
According to Rael, those with consciousness-restricting religious beliefs should not be allowed to dictate that society permit children to be born with physical monstrosities, or likely to lead lives mired in sickness or with the impairments of handicaps, when we now know how to prevent such suffering through genetic modifications made before birth.
“[Those with limited consciousness] have no right to impose on society the burden of additional handicapped children, for such children are the fruit of the criminal decision to ban genetic modifications,” he wrote.
Boisselier said Cohen now works for a company called Reprogenetics, which is involved in pre-implantation genetic diagnostics.
“The term ‘reprogenetics’ was coined by Lee M. Silver, a professor of molecular biology at Princeton University,” Boisselier said. “He described it as a combination of technologies that will allow parents to pick out the genetic characteristics of their own children and eliminate the disease genes that could be passed on to them.”
She said these new technologies will trigger many changes in society in the decades after their implementation.
“History teaches us that in almost every case of a major scientific advance, some people acted out of fear and ignorance to suppress it,” Boisselier said. “Nevertheless, scientific advances are the only hope for humanity on this planet.”
 | onsdag 18 juli 2012 |  |  |