MEDICAL TRANSHUMANISM PREMIÈRES SPÉ AMC

Let's first have an overview of you year in AMC English.

There are 2 main themes and 5 study areas we can pick and choose from
 Theme 1: Knowledge creation and innovation
o Study area 1: Production and circulation of knowledge
o Study area 2: Science and technology, promises and challenges
 Theme 2: Representations
o Study area 1: Making one's vote heard
o Study area 2: Inform and learn
o Study area 3: representing the world and self-representation

Our first sequence we will be within the Science and Technology study area :

00- To begin, please tell me the words that come to your mind when you hear
"transhumanism"

NUAGE DE MOTS

0-TITLE

Medical transhumanism in the US: a Pipe Dream or a Promise? (title)

Un rêve / une illusion ou une promesse ?
Question:
Where is the boundary between curing (treating) and enhancing (make better)?

And your final task will be to stage a TEDx Talk conference on a transhumanist enhancement
of your choice.

I –FOREVER YOUNG: END AGING OR DIE TRYING

I - OBSERVE   THE   IMAGE   AND   READ   THE   HEADLINES

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I - OBSERVE   THE   IMAGE   AND   READ   THE   HEADLINES

1 - What scientific breakthrough is referred to?
The scientific breakthrough which is referred to is immortality/biohacking/transhumanism/the
idea that thanks to science and drug therapy, lifespan extends. Scientists are trying to prolong life
through medication.

2 - Give a definition of transhumanism. What do transhumanists in general want?
You can visit the World Transhumanist Association website to get acquainted with their tenets and read their declaration:
https://www.humanityplus.org/the-transhumanist-declaration

Transhumanism is the theory that science and technology can help human beings develop beyond
what is physically and cognitively possible at the present time. Transhumanists want to overcome
human limitations such as aging, dying, getting sick...

II - WATCH THE VIDEO (ABC Science August 20, 2019)

1 - What is a biohacker?
A biohacker is a person who uses drugs to change his/her own biology. Though they carry out
scientific experiments, they are not real scientists. They take chemical substances such as
hormones in order to improve the condition of their body and of their mind.

2 - What does Eric Matzner think about age? Why?
He thinks that mental and physical age is different from chronological age, and that
when/while/ whereas chronological age cannot be changed, the physical and mental age
of his body can be improved

3 - What methods does he use to fight aging?
He takes a significant amount of medication but he also works out in order to maximise his fitness.

4 - What is his ultimate goal?
His ultimate goal is to stay alive as long as possible.

III-REACT

5 - What do you think about Eric Matzner’s experiment? 

Would you be willing to do the same? Why ?

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• un remède
• une percée scientifique
• une épée à double tranchant = argument
• amélioration humaine (= amélioration)
• durée de vie = espérance de vie•
• guérir = guérir
• pour ouvrir de nouveaux horizons
• pour faire de grands progrès
• pour changer pour le mieux
• atténuer le processus de vieillissement
• surmonter les limites humaines / •
développer les capacités humaines
•accélérer = accélérer les applications
bénéfiques
• avant-gardiste = pionnier
• de plus en plus populaire

FOCUS ON GRAMMAR

Correlative comparatives (How to express that two things vary together)

• En anglais, les structures d’accroissement parallèle se construisent ainsi : le comparatif est

précédé de l’article défini the et sujet + verbe sont placés en fin de construction, après le
comparatif

Cela fonctionne de la même manière lorsque le comparatif porte sur un nom, comme dans
l’exemple ci-dessous : « Plus il prenait de médicaments »􏰀 the more medicine he took

Ainsi, en anglais, le schéma de la construction est :

The adj-ER/more (ADJ ou NOM) + SUJET + VERBE, the adj-ER/more (ADJ ou NOM) + SUJET + VERBE

• Propositions d’autres exemples :

The stronger he becomes, the faster he runs.

The more he evolves, the more he develops new capacities.

The more medicine he took, the stronger he felt.

The more scientists prolong life expectancy, the more questions about how to cure age-related
diseases arise.

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MARDI 27 septembre
1 / Les faire passer par couple dans le role play

Noter leur performance / aisance

2/ deuxième chapitre
II THE DILEMMAS OF TINKERING WITH HUMAN
BIOLOGY

(=> écrire le titre au tableau)

1 - VIDEO Treating diseases with CRISPR ((=> écrire ça aussi)

• BEFORE YOU WATCH THE VIDEO
1 What is gene editing? What application(s) does it have?
Gene editing is a method which makes it possible to alter the DNA of an
organism. It is used in therapeutic treatments to cure genetic diseases.

• NOW PLAY VIDEO ONCE To vet : passer au crible

Had it fully taken out : l'a complètement éliminé
West Nile Virus: virus du Nil occidental, transmis par les
moustiques qui, chez l'humain, provoque une forte fièvre.
off-target / unintended effects : effets nos prévus
promiscuous: dans ce contexte : n'est pas très précis

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• WATCH FROM 00:00 TO 00:45
2  What breakthrough has recently sparked controversy in the scientific
world?
A Chinese doctor claims he helped make the first genetically-edited babies
during fertility treatments.

• WATCH FROM 00:45 TO 1:10
3 What did the Chinese doctor do?
The Chinese doctor used CRISPR to alter the DNA of embryos during in-vitro
fertilisation.

4  What is CRISPR ? (CRISPEUR Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats )

CRISPR is a tool which makes it possible to change one or several letters in
the DNA of an organism.

• WATCH FROM 1:10 TO 2:52
5  What is CRISPR able or not able to do? What risks does it trigger?
In this experiment, CRISPR was able to eliminate HIV in one of the two twins.
Yet, the study showed it raised the risk of death by the flu and the
potentiality of catching West Nile virus.

6  What are the critical issues with this recent breakthrough?

The critical issues are that CRISPR could have “off- target effects”, that is to
say that changing one letter in the DNA could affect other parts of the DNA.

7  Why is it controversial that the experiment was carried out on embryos?
The fact that the experiment was carried out on embryos is controversial
inasmuch as (since, because) the changes in the DNA could now be passed
on from one generation to another. Before, the treatment was only carried
out on adults and the genetic modifications affected only one individual.

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Treating diseases with CRISPR Videoscript: Chinese claim world’s 1st gene- edited babies
CBS News, 26 November 2018
WOMAN JOURNALIST: A Chinese researcher has created an international controversy over
science and ethics, after claiming he helped make the world’s first genetically edited babies.
According to The Associated Press, the researcher altered embryos for seven couples during
fertility treatments; one resulted in the birth of twin girls.
The claims have not been independently verified. They also were not published in a medical
journal, where they could be vetted by experts. Now, this kind of gene editing is banned in the
United States. The changes can be passed to future generations and could harm other genes.
Our doctor David Agus is an oncologist and leads the USC Westside Cancer Center and is here to
talk more about this. A lot of people on the medical community are buzzing about this. Can you
tell us how this doctor was able to do this?
DOCTOR ANGUS: I mean, this is wild, this is an enormous step, and what the doctor did was just
jolt sperm out of a man, and took it out of the semen and put it together with an egg (this is in-
vitro fertilization) and then when it made an embryo, he put in this thing called CRISPR, that’s
able to surgically change one of the three billion letters of the DNA code and he changed the code
for the HIV receptor, for the AIDS receptor in the cells and then that embryo was put into a
woman.
WOMAN JOURNALIST: So, is this process able to eliminate HIV? Because it’s being promoted that
way.
DOCTOR ANGUS: Well, in this study, when you edit these receptors, yes, you can eliminate HIV,
but in these two twins, only one of them had it fully taken out, the other one had it partially
taken out. But at the same time, it raises the risk of death to flu, and increases the rate of getting
West Nile virus. So it’s not a perfect treatment. And the problem is: there’re a lot of off-target
effects. This enzyme is promiscuous. Even though it can change one letter, it happens to maybe
change other things in the DNA.
WOMAN JOURNALIST: So we don’t know any of the unintended consequences yet. Obviously,
this raises a lot of ethical questions. This is banned, this process, here in the United States. Do you
ever see this actually being possible amongst US doctors?
DOCTOR ANGUS: Well, to me, this is an experiment on children, right? These were parents – the
fathers actually had HIV themselves, and the mothers did not. And then they consented them on
a consented HIV vaccine. It didn’t say “gene-editing” experiment. This is something we can get rid
of inborn errors of genetic disease potentially. But a lot more science needs to be done. It is way
too premature to put it in kids ‘cause we’re not gonna know the answer for 10, 20, 30 years
whether it worked.
WOMAN JOURNALIST: But this is a subject we clearly will be talking about going forward. We’ve
been talking about CRISPR for the past two years. What can you tell us about this doctor?
DOCTOR ANGUS: Well, this is a doctor who trained in the United States, and then went to
Europe. You know there are CRISPR studies on-going now in the United States, but we do that in
adults to treat a disease. This isn’t passed generation to generation. Once you hit what we call the
germ-line, the DNA of a child, it then is passed to the next generation, and the next. So these
changes are permanent.
WOMAN JOURNALIST: Huge changes in the world of science. We’ll be hearing more from this
doctor; he speaks at a conference in Honk-Kong. But great to hear you this morning talk about it.
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Positive opinions Negative opinions

1- Gene editing can lead to eugenic practices, that is, the selection of
particular traits / characteristics in order to ameliorate the human species
1- Genetic treatment is
and make a “perfect” human.characteristics are deemed (considered)
definitive: the disease is cured
better than others.
once and all. Patients would
not live in fear of developing 2- It is not what God intended for humans.
the illness again. 3- It is against Nature.
4- It would create a gap between the rich and the poor and those who can’t
2- It would eradicate some
afford genetic treatment would be left behind.
diseases.
5- People would die or age later, and so more generations would coexist,
3- Humans can improve the which could create problems.
human race, so they should do 6- It could create a feeling of superiority in those who can afford gene
it. editing, towards those who can’t afford it.

Texte philosophique
Read from line 1 to 18: What is the relation between biomedicine and transhumanism?
The fundamental principle of transhumanism is to use biomedicine to enhance humans.
Transhumanists use the advances in biomedicine to overcome human limitations and become
“stronger, smarter, less prone to violence, and long-lived”.
Read from line 19 to 37: According to the author, what is the major  threat of transhumanism?
Why?
The major threat of transhumanism is the problem of unequal access to the advances of human
enhancement: the less rich (affluent) will necessarily be left behind.

Read from line 38 to the end: According to the author, why are transhumanists

wrong about human nature? 

According to the author, transhumanists are wrong about human nature because
today’s humans are the result of a complex evolution.
The author asserts that in human nature, “good” and “bad” characteristics emerged
simultaneously and are therefore necessarily linked.
He adds that every human so-called “flaw” – including mortality – has played an
essential part in the development of the human race and is still necessary today to the
survival of humans. Erasing or changing one specific human trait would unbalance the
equilibrium. As of today, we are not able to foresee the possible effects of such
changes.
What should be done about this issue?

To counter a possibly catastrophic evolution, the author proposes that we should

respect human nature.
He implies that we should take preventative measures like the ones (akin to those) we

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have taken regarding the respect of “non-human nature”, in order to preserve the
specificities of humans and do no harm to humanity as a whole.

• Now CO "become digital" / noté

Rendez compte en français de ce que vous avez compris.

• Now prepare for the final task

https://www.sienna-project.eu/

TED Talks : show video of TED talk.

Start with an anecdote
Most TED Talks begin with a personal story. It is the best way to get the audience's attention.
Raise a problem
If you make a presentation, it is because you want to convince, and for that you must be able to
identify a problem to solve. A TED Talk is not just an exhibition of ideas but solutions to problems
that people face.
Develop your ideas
Once the problem is posed, it is now a matter of developing your reasoning. Present your ideas
precisely.
Explain how it works, the features, the benefits, etc.
Support your arguments with solid numbers, studies or other types of evidence.
You might want to conclude with a call-to-action.
Loop the loop
Get back to your anecdote or your question at the end of your talk to wrap it up.
Reduce your slides
Use slides only to illustrate in real time the main stages of the speech or the most visual elements.
Be concise for greater impact

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Use short sentences. Be brief but not too brief (a minimum of 4 minutes for this exercise) − A TED
Talk lasts on average 18 minutes.
Rehearse, rehearse and rehearse!