Article April 18, 1988 Issue

Second Thought

Looking again at news and commentary

The Washington Post National Weekly Edition

From The Washington Post National Weekly Edition, July 21, 1986

"'Neuroscientists are beginning to suspect that everything that makes people human is no more than an interaction of chemicals and electricity inside the labyrinthine folds of the brain,' said Newsweek on Feb. 7, 1983.

"This quotation pretty well sums up the prevailing scientific attitudes about life and consciousness. At any moment we can expect an announcement that the secret of life has been discovered and that life has been created artificially in a test tube. Science has not yet accomplished this feat, but there is every reason to believe that it will before long. Genetically manufactured drugs and organ transplants are already commonplace. Now that we understand DNA, our complete control over the processes of life is only a matter of time.

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