From carbon chemistry to silicon chemistry: a challenge for bioethics

Abstract

In the XXI century scientific advances seem to come from a science fiction story. They are so many and varied that we need huge quantities of paper, or to be consistent, countless e-books, bits of information, zeros and ones that can be translated into language and understandable, to describe these advances, and we are still overwhelmed by new technologies. Alan Turing, in the twentieth century, published a famous article in which he defined an infinite capacity calculating machine that operated based on a set of logical instructions and thus laid the foundations of the modern concept of algorithms. This unmatched machine led the way in later years towards the so called artificial intelligence.Scientific advances are not limited to changes in the genome, as it is also possible to improve the body, create spare parts, improve posture or make replacement of limbs, including brain chips, adding exoskeletons, with the possibility of enhancing the senses using electronic elements; There are many possibilities in a world moving rapidly, and Aristotle should seek correspondence between moral knowledge and technical expertise. As such this work intends to address the issue by analyzing the different positions we currently have on the concern generated by the development of science and technology in relation to future possibilities of human beings in their environment.

Keywords

• posthumanity
• bioethics
• dna
• biology
• chemistry
• electronics
• artificial
• development
• science
• technology