TECNOLOGÍA. (Homo Technologicus)
Nace así el Homo tecnologicus. Esta especie se caracteriza por haber convertido a la tecnología en compañero inseparable, con el consiguiente impacto en sus formas de vida. Imaginemos el mundo sin medicinas, aviones, GPS, el láser o internet. También existiría vida, pero de una forma muy diferente a como la conocemos.
Transcript
00:00It has been a dream since the dawn of time, a fantasy that no one believed could take
00:25body, be more handsome, stronger and smarter.
00:29Broaden the limits of humanity.
00:32However, current scientific progress is making it possible to turn this dream into a reality.
00:40The human being has always wanted to be immortal, possess superpowers of one or another type.
00:46But it is now when that desire can be fulfilled.
00:51For the first time in history, we are in a position to radically change the appearance of our children and grandchildren.
00:58We will be the first species to be able to control our own evolution.
01:02And it is not something that will happen in the distant future of science fiction, we are already experiencing it.
01:08Robotics, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, genetic research.
01:13These new technologies promise to make our old dream come true, improve the human race.
01:20We want to manipulate, we want to modify, and we are learning how to change our appearance.
01:28In our attempt to obtain an improved version of what we are, we will become monsters.
01:35We have proposed to find that man of the future.
01:39A hybrid half human, half machine, genetically modified, an almost perfect human being.
01:49We will start in Vienna, Austria, where we will meet Christian, the first European bionic man.
01:55In 2005 he received an electric discharge of 20,000 volts and had to amputate both arms.
02:02After which he decided to participate in the orthopedic research project, OTTOBOCK.
02:07How has the arm worked since the last consultation?
02:11It works very well for me.
02:13Excellent.
02:15Without any problem.
02:17Excellent.
02:21Excellent.
02:23A small team of scientists took five years to develop this revolutionary prosthesis.
02:29Today, thanks to a microchip capable of performing more than 500 million calculations per second,
02:33Christian's brain controls an arm that is artificial and intelligent.
02:37The nerves transfer to the surface of Christian's chest the signals that are formed in his brain.
02:43And some ultra-sensitive sensors transform those signals into orders for the prosthesis.
02:51These integrated machines represent the first step towards the cyborg,
02:55the cybernetic organism half man, half machine,
02:58which has captivated our imagination since the beginning.
03:02I am happy because I know that one day I will be much stronger and I will be able to lift heavy loads,
03:06like Schwarzenegger in Terminator.
03:09That will be possible in the future.
03:11And I'm looking forward to that day.
03:32It is possible that Christian's artificial limbs would never have seen the light
03:36without the research of the United States Army.
03:39Their ambitious project, Revolucionando la Ortopedia,
03:42is a direct result of the wars fought by the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan.
03:47There are hundreds of soldiers who return from the front without a leg or an arm.
03:53The main objective of the program is to return the limbs of the soldiers
03:57The main objective of the program is to return the limbs of the soldiers
04:01but it also seeks to develop a kind of super soldiers.
04:07At the moment, the soldiers must be content with this exoskeleton called Hulk.
04:12This robotic structure motorized with titanium
04:14allows American soldiers to transport weights up to 90 kilos with minimal effort.
04:20They wear it as if it were an armor when patrolling the mountains of Afghanistan.
04:25By general rule, the army is the essential breeding ground for technological advances.
04:32Being naive, we could even say that it is a wonderful example of philanthropy.
04:38Being less naive, we observe that the limits between what cures
04:42and what improves or perfects are increasingly blurred.
04:48Everything that is used to heal or reduce suffering
04:51is immediately incorporated into improvement, transformation and remodeling projects
04:56whose result is something that is no longer only human.
05:17I remember the beginning of that program when they said
05:20we can rebuild it.
05:23And from my heart a scream arose.
05:27Yes!
05:28We are able to give birth to the first human bio-ionic.
05:31Steve Austin will become this man.
05:35He will be superior to what he was before the accident.
05:38The strongest, the fastest, in a word, the best.
05:51If you had asked me at 13 if I would like to have flesh and bone legs,
05:56I would have said yes, without a doubt.
06:00I don't know.
06:01But if they asked me today, I would not know what to say.
06:04The ankles of my prosthesis are not the same as they would have inherited genetically.
06:11I can say with certainty that they are much better.
06:14Having always perfect pedicure is a great advantage.
06:17I don't have to shave my legs.
06:19It's fantastic.
06:2150, 20 years ago, this would be science fiction, but here we are.
06:34Successful athlete, model of designer Alexander McQueen and actress,
06:38Amy Mullins is considered one of the 50 most beautiful women in the world.
06:44Although she was amputated both legs when she was only one year old,
06:47Amy has learned to overcome her disadvantage and has become a woman like no other.
06:52Her artificial limbs are not just therapeutic, they are an aesthetic element.
06:57Someone told me, oh no, you don't have legs.
07:00And I replied, well, the truth is that I have 12 pairs of legs.
07:03I have many legs.
07:04I have a room full of legs.
07:13If we have to believe Amy, soon we will go out to buy a new pair of artificial legs
07:22at the height of those we regularly see in fashion magazines.
07:26Our limbs will come with warranty and will have options,
07:29like all the prostheses we already use, without being aware that they are.
07:34I think we are already living in the age of enlargement, without any doubt.
07:37We all have prostheses.
07:40The cell phone, the computer, we can't do anything without them.
07:46I don't know if it's a good example,
07:48but it's clear that Pamela Anderson has as many prostheses in her body as I do, if not more.
07:54And no one would dare to call her disabled.
07:58That's why the good news is that people don't call me disabled either.
08:03I went to a very elegant party,
08:05and there was a girl who had known me for years with my normal height.
08:08When she saw me, she kept her mouth open.
08:11But you're so tall.
08:14I know, I told her, isn't it great?
08:16It's like wearing shoes with a super heel.
08:18I'm delighted.
08:20The girl looked at me and said,
08:22Amy, that's not fair.
08:29And the most incredible thing is that she meant it.
08:32She meant it.
08:34It's not fair that you can change my height to your liking.
08:40The fact that, today,
08:42someone can envy my orthopedic legs,
08:44is something totally new.
08:52I could see it happening with amputation,
08:56especially in the sports world.
08:59Athletes will do whatever it takes to get the most advantage they can have.
09:05They told me that I'd never walk.
09:09That I'd never compete with other kids.
09:14It wasn't in me to play water polo.
09:19They told me I'd never make the team.
09:21In 2007, Oscar Pistorius beat normal athletes in the Golden League of Rome.
09:27Amy Mullins and Oscar Pistorius
09:29are pioneers of a new era in which the limited man
09:32becomes the increased man.
09:35Someday,
09:36the world will know the difference
09:38between a man with no legs
09:40and a man with no legs.
09:43In 2007, Oscar Pistorius beat normal athletes
09:46in the Golden League of Rome.
09:49Someday,
09:50in the most competitive circles,
09:52models,
09:53sports stars,
09:54and soldiers
09:55will be tempted to replace arms,
09:57eyes,
09:58or a part of their brain
09:59with a more beautiful organ
10:01or that offers a higher performance.
10:05Even now,
10:06strange creatures,
10:07half man, half machine,
10:09have invaded the streets of New York,
10:11ready to take our place.
10:14Now,
10:15the objective of these technologies
10:17that we are developing
10:19is not to modify our environment,
10:22it's about modifying ourselves.
10:24It's one of the five or six greatest revolutions
10:27of the last 10,000 years,
10:29depending on whether we include
10:31the birth of Jesus Christ in the list or not.
10:34It occupies a prominent place
10:36in that list,
10:37along with sedentarism,
10:39the origin of culture,
10:41medieval sedentarism,
10:43the origin of consciousness,
10:45the industrial revolution,
10:47and the age of information.
10:49It is a stunning issue,
10:51and they are asking us
10:53to find a way to remain human
10:55in the middle of all this.
11:11The technological evolution
11:13has stepped on the accelerator.
11:15In Grenoble,
11:16some scientists have developed
11:18a revolutionary process
11:20to place implants in the center of the brain.
11:24The engineer of a new hybrid man,
11:26Professor Benebit,
11:28has invented the first brain marker.
11:31It is controlled by microelectrodes
11:33housed inside the brain.
11:38These scientists,
11:39who are trying to increase
11:41the potential of the human brain,
11:43are entering the most intimate
11:45nucleus of man.
11:46This video shows a Parkinson's patient
11:48who we are subjecting to various tests
11:50before surgery,
11:52and allows us to see
11:54how disabled he is.
11:56He can't even stand up without help.
11:58Here he appears after the intervention,
12:00but the stimulator is not yet connected,
12:02so his right hand is still shaking.
12:04My colleague is now connecting the stimulator.
12:07And soon we will see
12:09how the tremor of his right hand
12:11stops immediately.
12:18Now we connect the stimulator
12:20on the other side.
12:23And the patient unlocks,
12:25moves his legs,
12:27keeps his hands straight,
12:29raises his head,
12:31walks normally,
12:33balancing his arms,
12:35something that Parkinson's patients
12:37cannot do.
12:39He makes a small turn
12:41to show how agile his legs are.
12:43If we disconnect the stimulator,
12:45the patient will resume his disease.
12:47If we connect it,
12:49the miracle begins again.
12:52Although these extraordinary results
12:54should still be put to the test in the long term,
12:5740,000 people around the world
12:59already have this implant.
13:02The stimulated area is small,
13:04the size of a grain of rice.
13:06And the implant requires an operation
13:08that can last more than 10 hours.
13:12The principle of deep stimulation
13:14consists of sending high-frequency waves
13:16to the dysfunctional parts of the brain,
13:18either to activate them or to inhibit them.
13:20Stimulation makes the symptoms
13:22of the disease disappear,
13:24but does not cure it.
13:27Our neural system
13:29always fails in the same way.
13:32We start to stammer,
13:34and what the stimulator does
13:36is give us a little push
13:38and stop the stammering.
13:44It's like when we eliminate
13:46radio interference.
13:48But with it we could not improve
13:50a normal function.
13:53Because the type of stimulation
13:55we use is quite abrupt.
14:01Scientists are finding other uses
14:03for this kind of stimulator.
14:05As the high-frequency waves
14:07can suppress the desire to eat,
14:09they are testing it as a treatment
14:11against obesity.
14:13It has already been used to treat
14:15severe depression cases
14:17and compulsive obsessive disorders.
14:19Electrodes can correct our behavior,
14:21normalize our reactions
14:23and change our mood.
14:25And it has been demonstrated
14:27that it is possible to implant
14:30Natalie, a patient with
14:32severe obsessive-compulsive disorder,
14:34resistant to classical therapies,
14:36received an implant less than a year ago.
14:38Inserted under her collarbone,
14:40this tiny artifact produces
14:42high-frequency waves
14:44that stimulate her brain permanently.
14:46A psychiatrist regularly monitors
14:48the parameters of the treatment.
14:50Today he suggests that you see
14:52some images of her taken
14:54before receiving the implant.
14:57Let's watch the video
14:59where you see how she tries
15:01to get up from the table
15:03after breakfast.
15:26One, two.
15:29One, two.
15:32I have to do it six times
15:34before I can leave it.
15:51It's amazing.
15:53I was totally obsessed.
15:55Frankly, doctor,
15:57it's painful to see those images again.
16:01If I give you a glass now,
16:05do you have any difficulty
16:07in holding it or giving it back?
16:09No.
16:11Can you give it back to me?
16:13Yes.
16:15I feel totally normal,
16:17as before, as in 2000,
16:19as I felt before my illness.
16:21I do not feel a cyborg at all.
16:23Goodbye, doctor.
16:25Goodbye.
16:37Our knowledge of the brain
16:39is advancing at an extraordinary rate.
16:41Neuron to neuron,
16:43different areas of gray matter
16:45are revealing their mysteries.
16:47These secret images,
16:49never seen before,
16:51show a man walking with a monkey
16:53with all the necessary precautions.
16:55Since the goal was to decipher
16:57the mechanisms of the act of walking,
16:59it was necessary to teach the monkey
17:01to walk upright like a man.
17:03Three electrodes implanted
17:05in his hypothalamus
17:07allowed him to register
17:09his neuronal activity
17:11while moving his legs.
17:13In other places,
17:15memory, language and desire
17:17are also being deciphered,
17:19as well as the ability
17:21to move objects with thought.
17:25So far,
17:27American scientists
17:29have come the furthest.
17:31Some Boston researchers
17:33have begun to lay the foundations
17:35of improved medicine.
17:37To alleviate the loneliness
17:39of this tetraplegic,
17:41they have provided him
17:43with a superhuman function,
17:45the ability to move objects
17:47with thought.
17:49They have implanted 100 electrodes,
17:51as thin as a hair,
17:53in his motor cortex.
17:55These electrodes collect
17:57the electrical signals emitted
17:59by the neurons
18:01and send them to a computer.
18:03For a few months,
18:05Matthew Nagle
18:07could play video games,
18:09turn on and off lights
18:11and change TV channels
18:13until he had to remove
18:15the TV from the computer.
18:17He says,
18:19you're doing a great job.
18:21Now I'm going to turn on the TV.
18:23It's already on.
18:25I'm going to select a channel.
18:27I've put the previous channel.
18:29Now I'm going to put the next one.
18:31Oh man,
18:33I can't describe it with words.
18:35I've just used my brain.
18:37I've done nothing but think it.
18:39I just told the cursor
18:41to go up right
18:43and it's wild.
19:13But is the information
19:15recorded in this hard drive
19:17an additional memory?
19:19A kind of external hard drive
19:21that I can reconnect whenever I want?
19:23The answer is no,
19:25because I don't know
19:27where to connect it.
19:37A simple problem
19:39of where to connect the cables
19:41separates him from the improved memory man.
19:43Some scientists believe
19:45that the problem could be solved
19:47in the next 5 or 10 years.
19:49I know that sounds crazy,
19:51but the founders of Google
19:53are already serious
19:55about implanting a Google
19:57in the brain.
19:59The first time that happened,
20:01people thought it was a joke.
20:03But it wasn't a joke.
20:05They were serious.
20:11It's possible that in the future
20:13we feel so lost without an implant
20:15as we feel now
20:17when we forget our cell phone.
20:19Our future bosses will demand
20:21to have brains equipped
20:23with the best software.
20:25This idea may alarm the Europeans,
20:27but on the other side of the Atlantic
20:29they seem less reluctant.
20:31The question is how and when,
20:33not a conditional yes.
20:35We have already connected
20:37human neurons to computer chips.
20:39And we are getting better and better
20:41at an exponential rate of improvement.
20:43And the fact is that
20:45as the improvement of these processes
20:47can generate a lot of money,
20:49capital will continue to flow
20:51at a very high rate.
20:53It's like pouring gasoline into the fire.
20:55All this will be happening
20:57faster and faster.
20:59It will happen somewhere in the world.
21:01And once it happens,
21:03the people who incorporate
21:05these improvements
21:07will say,
21:09how can I get that?
21:13Peter Diamandis is a transhumanist.
21:17Transhumanism is a movement
21:19that has thousands of followers
21:21all over the world,
21:23some of which occupy prominent places
21:25in the best American institutions
21:27and research laboratories.
21:29They even have their own university
21:31located on the campus of NASA
21:33in Silicon Valley.
21:35He is preparing the ground
21:37so that the richest can evolve
21:39and make up the technologically
21:41improved human species
21:43that will happen to Homo sapiens.
21:45Right now it's easy for us
21:47to say human.
21:49We know it's a human
21:51and it's a machine.
21:53But the border between one and the other
21:55will soon blur.
21:57We will start by receiving
21:59visual and auditory implants.
22:01Then we will go through
22:03a midlife crisis
22:05and instead of buying
22:07a sports car,
22:09we will buy a sports heart
22:11to improve our physical performance.
22:13It will start like this,
22:15with small improvements,
22:17and before we realize it,
22:19we will be more artificial than natural.
22:21So I would not try to close
22:23to the classic separation
22:25between humans and machines.
22:27We will evolve and change
22:29what we use to relate to the world.
22:31And it's something positive.
22:33It's evolution,
22:35an artificial evolution.
22:41Here some of the best students
22:43in the world teach
22:45that man is a machine
22:47whose pieces can soon be changed
22:49without limit,
22:51and that for our children,
22:53death will be a disease
22:55that will have a cure.
22:57When we understand
22:59we can go from seeing aging
23:01as something inevitable
23:03to seeing it as an election.
23:05Some people do not want to understand it like that,
23:07and I think it's good,
23:09they do not have to do it.
23:11But those who understand it like that
23:13will live more and in better conditions,
23:15will be more successful in society,
23:17and ultimately,
23:19as Darwin proved,
23:21they will overcome and replace
23:23those who do not.
23:25We are going through
23:27an evolutionary period
23:29based on natural selection
23:31to an evolution
23:33based on intelligent direction.
23:43The will of the human species
23:45to depend on itself
23:47in a rational way
23:49and following an established plan
23:51is something radically new.
23:53Until now, evolution
23:55has not been a problem
23:57when human beings
23:59become the engineer of evolution,
24:01the result is a form of excess
24:03that could be counterproductive.
24:11Our species
24:13is losing all its naturalness,
24:15and the question we must ask
24:17is, do we humans
24:19feel part of nature
24:21or do we feel displaced from it?
24:23That is for me the greatest danger,
24:25because separating from nature
24:27would mean the fall of humanity.
25:23The University of Reading,
25:25the British Silicon Valley,
25:27is one hour away by train from London.
25:29Here, a professor of cybernetics
25:31who enjoys a perfect health
25:33has begun to transform his body,
25:35proof that the transhumanist ideology
25:37has already crossed the Atlantic.
25:39I did not want to limit myself
25:41to being a human,
25:43I wanted to be a scientist,
25:45I wanted to be a scientist
25:47and I wanted to be a scientist
25:49and I wanted to be a scientist
25:51I did not want to limit myself
25:53to being a human
25:55If I could progress and transform
25:57into an improved human,
25:59a cyborg, so to speak,
26:01I am entirely determined to do it.
26:08Kevin Warwick´s mutation
26:10increases the ability of his cell
26:12to have more controls
26:14on the robotic systems
26:16in his laboratory,
26:18The first implant I received was an RFID, a radiofrequency identification system.
26:27I chose to have it implanted in my left arm as an experiment.
26:32What it did was allow me to identify myself in the computer in my building.
26:37So, as I enter, the doors open and the lights turn on.
26:41And as I cross the main door, the computer says...
26:45Hello, Professor Warwick.
26:48A lot of animals already have this implant, but I was the first human.
26:52And it could be used as an extra passport for humans.
26:56I love being a cyborg.
27:02A few months later, Kevin decided to take another step and implant a second chip in his arm.
27:08But this time, it was connected directly to his own nervous system.
27:12His goal was to remotely control a robotic hand.
27:15He underwent an extremely delicate operation of two and a quarter hours, in front of the cameras, and without ever losing his smile.
27:24It took six months to train my brain, to teach it to recognize the new pulses,
27:30and to feel the amount of force that the robotic hand was applying.
27:34It was like having another sense of touch, a sixth sense that my mind had not had until then.
27:43This is Mowi.
27:45Mowi is a research robot.
27:48It has cameras in its eyes and an audio system in its ears.
27:53It has an ultrasonic sonar in its forehead,
27:57it has a radar in its nose,
28:00and its upper lip emits infrared rays.
28:04So, in the future, there will be humans that have not five senses, but 20 or more senses.
28:10This will allow us to understand much better the world that surrounds us.
28:15This is an ultrasonic baseball cap.
28:18This was linked to my nervous system by means of an implant,
28:22so that in case there is a nearby object, my brain can get current pulses.
28:27I could use this to track objects.
28:30Clearly, it is an improvement that anyone can experience.
28:35What I'm going to try to do now is use the cap to walk around the room without bumping into anything.
28:43There is nothing on my right.
28:45It's all clear on the right.
28:47It's not on the left, it's not on the right.
28:50It's right in front of me.
28:52It's the camera.
28:59Kevin is jealous of the machines.
29:02Today, his dream of a better future is focused on this fire extinguisher robot.
29:10Hello, welcome home.
29:12You did very well.
29:13Much better than me, that's for sure.
29:18Maybe in the future, when human bodies are so obese that we can't move,
29:23we will move in small vehicles like this.
29:27And it will be our brain that controls the world that surrounds us.
29:31Our bodies are there to move our brains from one place to another.
29:35Maybe also to practice sex and a couple of other things.
29:38But it could get rid of our bodies.
29:44There will be two species, no doubt.
29:46Improved humans and normal humans.
29:48And I know which group I want to belong to.
29:51And I know which group I want to belong to.
29:53I don't want to be one of those boring normal humans with limited mental abilities.
29:58I want to be in the intellectual group, in the improved human group.
30:24Humanity is already divided between poor and rich.
30:27Not all of us have the same access to education, culture, health and technology.
30:33But nowadays, social classes are more or less permeable.
30:37Tomorrow, once technology invades our bodies,
30:40humans will be divided forever into unalterable technological castes.
30:49Two categories of people could be created.
30:52The upper class, that of the improved individuals,
30:55and the lower class, that of the non-improved individuals.
30:58There would be a new differential factor.
31:01Normal people would be at a disadvantage in front of people with means to access these improvements.
31:11The idea of a world dominated by a minority,
31:14medicated, full of implants,
31:16and with the power to shape the future of our species,
31:19should make us reflect.
31:25What is a superior human?
31:27How will we get to him?
31:29We have managed to get cows to produce more milk because we need it,
31:32to increase the production of corn to 2,250 kilos per hectare because we need it.
31:36But what do we want from humans?
31:38There is no answer to that question.
31:56It's scary.
31:59You'll look younger, smaller, lighter, fuller, tighter, thinner, softer.
32:05It really works.
32:20It is clear that this desire to standardize human matter,
32:23human flesh, goes hand in hand with the desire for cultural standardization.
32:27We are making man competitive.
32:30That is the key word of our era.
32:32To think that there can be no place for people who want to remain within that trend,
32:36and that there will be many people who will lag behind in this race,
32:39is an idea that terrifies me.
32:49Who will set the standards of this competitive man,
32:52with an infallible brain and a perfect body immune to aging?
32:56Scientists? Politicians? Militaries? Or manufacturers?
33:01While we try to model, standardize and reproduce at our will
33:04various biological processes,
33:06the technology that sees man as a machine is gaining ground rapidly.
33:12And the application of this industrial vision of man begins with his birth.
33:23Good evening, Mr. President.
33:29As you can see, the breeding stages are complete.
33:32They are devoid of individuality, subservient to our authority.
33:37And quite frankly, Mr. President,
33:39they're stupid.
33:41The perfect customers for your banks of tomorrow.
33:45And this one, I'm afraid that one hasn't turned out quite as we expected.
33:50This one, I'm afraid that one hasn't turned out quite as we expected.
34:13Oscar was not born of an artificial uterus.
34:17But at birth, after a pregnancy of just six months,
34:20he managed to survive the last three months of pregnancy
34:23in this incubator that replaced his mother's womb.
34:30In the future, the babies will be born in a machine,
34:33an artificial uterus that will allow its manufacture.
34:37It's true that it looks like science fiction, but it's not at all.
34:41For Henri Atlan, producing an artificial uterus
34:44is the logical extension of the current medically-assisted procreation techniques.
34:52There is already in vitro fertilization,
34:54which means that the first days of development
34:56take place outside the woman's body, in a laboratory.
34:59On the other hand, premature babies spend the last weeks in an incubator.
35:04So the question is how we fill the gap of those five months
35:08that separate the beginning from the end of the gestation.
35:11It won't be easy, but I consider it feasible.
35:28We are in Philadelphia,
35:29in the intensive care unit of the maternity ward
35:32of the Temple University Hospital.
35:34Here, Thomas Schaffer has developed a technique
35:37that allows extremely premature babies to survive.
35:40Schaffer had the idea of making them breathe a liquid rich in oxygen.
35:46Babies grow up in the uterus,
35:48in a liquid environment in which their lungs are filled with liquid.
35:54And unfortunately,
35:55premature babies make the transition to gas breathing too soon.
36:01So my idea was to introduce a synthetic liquid
36:05into those immature lungs,
36:07so that they continue to function.
36:11Once they have matured,
36:13we will stop introducing that liquid.
36:15What remains will evaporate,
36:17and babies will be able to resort to gas breathing
36:21like a normal infant.
36:31Although it was not his first goal,
36:33the liquid invented by Dr. Schaffer
36:35was used in the first real attempt to create an artificial uterus.
36:39At the University of Yuntendo in Tokyo,
36:41Dr. Kubabara extracted the premature fetuses from a goat's uterus
36:45and placed them in a plastic tank.
36:49The babies reached the end of their gestation,
36:51but only lived four weeks after their birth.
37:02At Cornell Medical School in New York,
37:04a professor of endocrinology
37:06has gone even further with the suspensions of the uterus.
37:10By artificially recreating the beginning of gestation,
37:12Dr. Liu has begun to assemble the first pieces of a baby-making machine.
37:19Dr. Liu managed to create a very successful first version of the artificial uterus.
37:25A plastic cavity covered by endometrial cells,
37:29the cells that form the female uterine lining.
37:35She also managed to implant human embryos in that cavity.
37:40Although they were pathological embryos,
37:42we knew they were going to die.
37:48Her results were very controversial
37:50and she was forced to suspend her experiments.
37:54But the doctor continued to work with mice
37:56and managed to develop mouse offspring in those cavities
38:00until her complete gestation.
38:05Dr. Liu only wanted to return fertility to women with dysfunctional uteruses.
38:10Like many scientists,
38:11she thought she could control the technology she was developing.
38:16But how can a discovery of that nature be controlled?
38:20Mechanizing and ultimately industrializing the birth of a child
38:24is a very delicate matter.
38:25Too delicate.
38:29The idea that one day a machine could replace the uterus
38:32generated such a scandal
38:33that the doctor began to receive death threats.
38:38There was a terrible debate
38:40and the doctor was scared.
38:42The issue of the artificial uterus
38:44was debated in international biomedical ethics seminars
38:47among supporters and detractors of her experiments.
38:52It was a very interesting debate
38:54because everyone could express their points of view.
38:57Paradoxically, the movements provided by the United States
39:00were shown to be in favor
39:02because they believed that this would lead to fewer abortions
39:05because unwanted children could be transferred to an artificial uterus
39:09without having to end their lives.
39:22The artificial uterus surprises many people.
39:25But the process has already begun.
39:27It is the process of dissociation between procreation and sexuality.
39:34The result will be that the great asymmetry
39:37that currently exists between men and women
39:39when deciding to have a child or not will disappear.
39:42Because women will participate in the same way as men
39:46when providing cells.
39:48Women will provide ovules.
39:51Men, sperm and period.
39:54This means that there will be an asymmetry that did not exist until now.
40:10According to a survey conducted by an American website,
40:1355% of Internet users
40:16do not see any ethical problem in the use of an artificial uterus.
40:20What do they gain from it?
40:22It avoids the unpleasant effects of pregnancy
40:24and they can continue working.
40:26There will always be a market for the artificial uterus
40:29because it satisfies the desire of women
40:32who want to procreate in the most comfortable way possible.
40:35In fact, the market will be created by the manufacturers themselves,
40:39as is currently the case with many of the medicines
40:42that circulate the pharmaceutical companies that create the market.
40:53In Los Angeles, a new market has seen the light of day.
40:57Here, the production of the perfect human being
41:00begins in the conception,
41:02selecting the best quality embryos.
41:05A new industry offers babies to the letter,
41:08with different options and a total guarantee.
41:11They have a wide catalog of rental mothers
41:14and carefully selected sperm donors.
41:17Here they are sold in large quantities,
41:19the genetic inheritance of the perfect baby.
41:22Now we can choose the sex of our child
41:24along with many other characteristics.
41:26These are the incubators where we have the embryos,
41:29as if they were inside the mother.
41:31How many babies do you have here?
41:33Forty.
41:34Forty babies.
41:40In France, as in most countries in the world,
41:43choosing the sex of your child is illegal.
41:46But a flight to Los Angeles and a few thousand dollars
41:49is enough to have the child you want.
41:52In China, all families want to have boys.
41:55In Canada, they prefer girls.
41:57In Mexico, too.
41:59In France, the preferences are slightly inclined towards girls,
42:02but they are almost 50%.
42:11In some countries, being able to choose the sex of a child
42:15is a matter of great importance.
42:17In China, where they kill thousands of girls as soon as they are born,
42:20there are 18 million single men due to the scarcity of women.
42:25If it were available,
42:27this process would have devastating effects in that country.
42:30Fortunately, there is still a long way to go
42:32for this to be a generalized problem.
42:34For now, only those who can afford it
42:36can have the child they want.
42:38The technology used to select the embryos
42:41is called pre-implant genetic diagnosis.
42:44This form of diagnosis was invented
42:46to avoid abortions in couples with serious genetic diseases
42:49who did not want to give birth to a baby with malformations.
42:52But as soon as the mercenaries of procreation
42:54appropriated this technique,
42:56the baby market was created.
43:02Elizabeth and Peter enjoy good health
43:04and are parents of two children.
43:06But they have decided not to leave the arrival of the third child
43:09until the end of the pregnancy.
43:13Okay, so you're interested in gender selection.
43:16That's right.
43:17Okay, so you already have two children,
43:19both healthy,
43:21and two boys.
43:23Yes, we want a healthy girl.
43:26Very good.
43:27We use the technology of in vitro fertilization.
43:30The only difference is that once we have the embryos,
43:33I have a team of outstanding geneticists
43:35who perform biopsies of the embryos
43:37and study the genetic components that interest us.
43:48This is for the new mothers, when they get pregnant,
43:51to prepare them, because two weeks later they are pregnant.
43:54Sure?
43:55Yes.
43:56Well, there is an 85% chance.
43:58We consider our program the Rolls Royce of fertilization programs.
44:017,000 cases, no error.
44:03All patients have had what they wanted.
44:08The baby pack includes hotels and plane trips with a discount
44:12and a complete financing plan.
44:16All included, the baby of your dreams has a price that exceeds $20,000.
44:23The price of the sex selection package they have chosen
44:26has a price of $18,490.
44:29Very good.
44:30Taxes included?
44:32The medication is never included in our packages.
44:36The medication for this cycle can cost the patient around $5,000,
44:40but that's nothing to worry about.
44:42Thank you so much.
44:53I calculate that it will cost us about $30,000,
44:56which is a lot of money.
44:57It seems crazy.
44:58A part of you says,
45:00Oh, I can't spend so much money.
45:02But if you think in the long run,
45:04you value the desire you have to have a daughter,
45:06and you stop to think how much you're going to spend on each of your children,
45:09maybe it's worth it.
45:13I think it's a fantastic price.
45:15It's cheaper than a car.
45:16Economically, knowing if you want a boy or a girl
45:19is a very good decision.
45:21I don't think it's comparable to buying a car.
45:23But in a way, it's the long-lasting good, par excellence.
45:26We're talking about something that will last forever.
45:28I don't feel uncomfortable with this procreation method.
45:31Now it's up to us to decide how much desire we have to have a girl,
45:35as much as to spend $30,000.
45:46If you are paying $12,000 or more for a fertility treatment
45:50that allows you to choose the sex of your child,
45:53what kind of pressure and demand are you putting on that child?
45:58And if it's not a very feminine girl,
46:00what if he wants to play football with you?
46:03What if he doesn't want to wear pink dresses?
46:08Soon we will be able to choose other options for our children.
46:11Dr. Steinberg recently announced that he was able to choose
46:15the color of the eyes, the hair and the skin of the baby.
46:18Immediately after his announcement,
46:20the clinic received a flood of requests.
46:22But the controversy generated by that statement
46:24caused the offer to be withdrawn from his website.
46:27Outside the cameras, the doctor admitted that he had been asked
46:30to select embryos that would become tall, athletic people
46:33or with a perfect timbre of voice.
46:35We will never know because there is no public information about it.
46:39And they don't have to tell us what tests they are doing.
46:42We are in Hollywood, the capital of plastic surgery.
46:45If a person doesn't like his nose, he changes it.
46:48And that seems good to me.
46:49I understand perfectly that someone doesn't like a color of the eyes
46:52and prefers another color.
46:53Now, would I do it?
46:54Probably yes, but not right now.
46:56It's too soon.
47:00It's incredible.
47:01Yes, it's an incredible technology.
47:04Dr. Steinberg is convinced that, in the end,
47:06he will prove that he is right.
47:08The doctors in Great Britain have already agreed
47:10to eliminate the embryos that could give rise to viscous babies.
47:17What produces horror is the fact of introducing
47:20the notion of rational choice to have a child.
47:26And it is this rational choice that I question,
47:29not commercialization or technology.
47:32I question rational choice.
47:35I feel totally against the elimination of chance.
47:39There are two conditions, two facts that make sense in life.
47:44The first is that every life has an end.
47:48The second is the importance of chance in life.
47:51So if we eliminate both that end and chance,
47:55we eliminate the meaning of life and the meaning of death.
48:08Eliminating the chance of birth is not a recent concern.
48:12In the 1870s, Francis Galton, cousin of Charles Darwin,
48:16founded the Eugenesia.
48:18His goal was to double, reduce the number of inept
48:21and improve the race, encouraging the reproduction of the fittest.
48:27Overflowing with good intentions,
48:29the movement grew at the beginning of the 20th century.
48:32First in the United States and later in Europe.
48:35In 1950, 33 states of the United States
48:38approved eugenic laws such as sterilization of the disabled,
48:41epileptic, mentally ill and sometimes even alcoholics and drug addicts.
48:46These policies were abandoned when the Americans
48:49discovered the horrors of the Nazi concentration camps.
48:55Today we have technologies that make eugenics less traumatic than before,
49:00since no one is forced to sterilize
49:03and people are relatively free to decide for themselves.
49:06That is why all the conditions are given
49:08for eugenics to experience a similar boom to that of the 1930s.
49:14The economic crisis, the need to create jobs,
49:17the fascination for technological progress
49:20and the myth of the birth of a new man,
49:22factors that made possible the boom of the eugenic movement in the 1930s,
49:26seem to be repeated today.
49:28Although today most doctors
49:30consider that the selection of embryos is a positive eugenics,
49:34because it is not imposed by a government,
49:36but is a free individual choice.
49:39People try to calm down by saying that new eugenics
49:42is a free and voluntary practice,
49:44since each person decides which embryos he wants to keep and which not.
49:48But we must not forget, as we saw in the movie Gattaca,
49:51that when some can choose,
49:53those who cannot do it are seen in difficulties.
49:56Because that means that the obligation to choose is created.
49:59That is why the statement that people have the freedom
50:01to select embryos is not as true as it may seem.
50:04If it is allowed to do it,
50:06it will end up being mandatory.
50:36Welcome to Gattaca.
51:05Gattaca is a very accurate description
51:08of how we can select human beings
51:10to achieve concrete results
51:12and make the selection,
51:14even within the egg itself.
51:17I think the day will come
51:19when society will tell those
51:21who do not want to select their children,
51:23pay it yourselves.
51:25We will not give you a maternity leave or social benefits.
51:28If you want to take the risk,
51:30fix it alone.
51:32Social pressure will grow
51:34and it will end up being an obligation
51:36that people have useful and standardized children,
51:38which, in theory, should be much happier than others.
51:41I ask you to welcome now
51:43Mr. Michel Petrucciani.
52:04Applause
52:33Music
52:45It should not surprise us
52:47that society wants children by the letter,
52:49because today there are many people
52:51who are unable to accept
52:53those who are different.
53:03It is true that I am completely against
53:05choosing children by the letter.
53:07Of course it is good to find ways
53:09to limit genetic diseases,
53:11because that would mean
53:13that there would be fewer children
53:15who would suffer diseases
53:17and who would feel different
53:19throughout their lives.
53:21Music
53:25After all, it is certain that
53:27Music
53:31Naturally,
53:33we have had geniuses
53:35who were different
53:37and who used that difference
53:39to be unique
53:41and become extraordinary people,
53:43people who go beyond
53:45normality.
53:47Music
53:57If I could have chosen,
53:59I would have chosen
54:01to be normal,
54:03but I am not sad
54:05to be as I am.
54:07Music
54:15I would not want my children
54:17to suffer what I suffered.
54:19But I say that
54:21with a certain degree of prudence,
54:23because I still do not know
54:25enough about life
54:27to categorically affirm
54:29whether or not I would like
54:31to have a son like me.
54:33Because my father did want to have me.
54:35But he knew much more
54:37about life than I did.
54:39He experienced what I have experienced,
54:41and yet he made the decision
54:43to have me.
54:45And I am the result
54:47of that decision.
54:49Music
55:09Is it desirable to make reality
55:11the old dream of becoming
55:13perfect men?
55:15We cannot deny the unasked
55:17to parents who suffer from rare diseases
55:19the possibility of having children.
55:21But since medicine
55:23goes from being a science that cures
55:25to being a science in which the criteria
55:27of selection and improvement prevail,
55:29it is time to question this
55:31improved man.
55:33Music
55:35We will make more beautiful bodies
55:37that will live many more years
55:39and brains that will allow us to work even more.
55:41But who will benefit
55:43from these supposed improvements?
55:45Our politicians, who make these wonderful discoveries?
55:47Our governments,
55:49who will not stop at anything
55:51to create jobs of the future?
55:53If we eliminate the chance of life,
55:55we also eliminate a large part of its meaning.
55:57And the risk is that technology
55:59will not make us better,
56:01but simply
56:03less human.
56:05Music