Stem cells, genetic catalogues, retroviral engineering, etc. are simply tools; no different or magical than hammers, screw drivers, or wrenches. The problem lies with the user not with the tool itself. Human beings will always be selfish, arrogant, and myopic in their relation with their environment and with each other in the absence of proper cultivation.

I recall a scene in "Conan the Barbarian" when James Earl Jones' character educates the meaning of true power. "What is a sword compared with the hand that wields it?" Our society, like Conan seeks after the next magic tool to fix our problems, but do not recognize that the true power lies in cultivating ourselves in the way of wisdom.