SENATOR STONE: Thank you, sir. And I wish also to thank my fellow senator for his quick perception of the direction in which my questioning was leading. So here we have, you would say, an entirely new kind of creature, distantly associated, perhaps, with a cow, a pig, a sheep, perhaps with even other forms of life…
DR LUKAS: Yes, with other forms of life. There may be a limit somewhere, of course, but at the moment we do not see it. We feel we may be able to keep on drafting various forms of life, fusing them together into something viable…
SENATOR STONE: And the farther you go in this direction, the farther you take this life form from its association with any present form of life?
DR LUKAS: Yes, I suppose you could say that. I’d have to think about it before I gave an answer.
SENATOR STONE: Now, doctor, let me inquire into the state of the art. You can do this biological engineering with animals. Could the same thing be done with human beings?
DR LUKAS: Oh yes. Certainly it could.
SENATOR STONE: You feel certain that new types of humanity could be created in the laboratory. Perhaps many different types.
DR LUKAS: I have no doubt of it.
SENATOR STONE: And once this had been done – once you had engineered a human to specific specifications, would that human breed true to the form you had created?
DR LUKAS: There is no question of that. The animals we have created have bred true. It should be no different with a human. It is simply a matter of altering the genetic material. That is what must be done in the first place, you understand.
SENATOR STONE: Let us get this straight now. Suppose you did develop a new human strain, then that strain would reproduce other humans of the self-same strain?
DR LUKAS: Exactly. Except, of course, for the tiny mutations and the variations which are implicit in the evolutionary processes. But that occurs even in the natural forms. That is how all life today evolved.
SENATOR STONE: And say you did create a new type of human being. Say, for example, one that would be able to exist under a condition of much higher gravity than we have here on earth, one that could breathe a different kind of air, one that could thrive on food which might be poisonous to the human being as he now exists, would you… Let me rephrase that question, if you don’t mind. Would it be possible, would you say, to engineer such a life form?
DR LUKAS: You’re asking only for my considered opinion, of course.
SENATOR STONE: That is right.
DR LUKAS: Well, then, I’d say it would be entirely possible. First, you would have to take into consideration all the factors involved and then draft the biological blueprint and…
SENATOR STONE: But it could be done?
DR LUKAS: Without any doubt at all.
SENATOR STONE: You could design a being which could exist under almost any planetary condition?
DR LUKAS: Senator, I must make it clear that I couldn’t. The bioengineering of humans would not fall into my particular field. But yes, it does lie within the state of the art to do this. There are men working with the problem today who could do it. Not that there is any serious attempt at the moment to actually create such a human, but the problems, I understand, have been worked out.
SENATOR STONE: And the procedures, also?
DR LUKAS: That is my understanding. The procedures also.
SENATOR STONE: And these men, working with these procedures, could design and create a human which would be able to live under any planetary condition?
DR LUKAS: Well, not quite that sweeping, senator. Not any condition. Eventually, perhaps, but not now. And there would, of course, be certain conditions which would be entirely incompatible with life of any sort.
SENATOR STONE: But a form of human life could be created which would exist under a number of conditions which at the moment would prohibit human life as we know it.
DR LUKAS: I think that can stand as a fair statement.
SENATOR STONE: Then let me ask you, doctor… if such a life form were created, would it still be human?
DR LUKAS: It would be based, so far as possible, upon the biological and intellectual pattern of a human being. This would be necessary. You have to have a starting point.
SENATOR STONE: Would it look like a human being?
DR LUKAS: In many cases, it would not.
SENATOR STONE: In most cases, perhaps. Wouldn’t that be right, doctor?
DR LUKAS: It would depend entirely upon the severity of the environmental parameters which would have to be met.
SENATOR STONE: In some cases, it would be a monster, would it not?
DR LUKAS: Senator, you will have to define your terms. What is a monster?
SENATOR STONE: All right, then. Let us say a monster is a life form that would be repugnant for a human being to look upon. A life form in which a human being could see no relationship to himself. A life form, confronted with which, a human might find himself terrified or horrified or filled with loathing and disgust.
DR LUKAS: Whether a man would be filled with loathing and disgust would depend, to a large extent, upon what kind of man he was. With the proper attitude…
SENATOR STONE: Let us forget about the proper attitude. Let us take an ordinary man or woman, any one of the people sitting in this room. Might certain people look upon this hypothetical creation of yours and feel loathing and disgust?
DR LUKAS: I suppose some of them would. And I want to correct you, senator. You say monster. This is not my monster. It is something you have conjured up…
SENATOR STONE: But some human beings would regard such a creature as a monster?
DR LUKAS: Some of them.
SENATOR STONE: Many of them, perhaps.
DR LUKAS: Yes. Perhaps many of them.
SENATOR STONE: Thank you, doctor. I believe that is all the questions that I have.
SENATOR HORTON: Now, Dr Lukas, let’s take a little further look at this synthetic man I know that description is not entirely right, but I think it may please my colleague.
SENATOR STONE: A synthetic man, yes. Not a human being. What this so-called bioengineering proposal calls for is to colonize other planets, not with human beings, but with synthetic creatures which would bear no resemblance to human beings. In other words, to release upon the galaxy, a horde of monsters…
SENATOR HORTON Well now let’s see, Dr Lukas let you and me agree with Senator Stone that such a creature might be fairly horrible to look upon. But how it might look would seem to me to be beside the question. What is important is what it is. Do you agree?
DR LUKAS Most emphatically sir.
SENATOR HORTON: Aside from how it might look, would you say it still would be a human being?
DR LUKAS: Yes, senator, I would. Its bodily structure would bear no relationship to what it would be. Its identity would rest within its brain and mind, its motivations and its intellectual outlook.
SENATOR HORTON: And its brain would be a human brain?
DR LUKAS: Yes, sir.
SENATOR HORTON: Therefore its emotions and motivations and outlook would conform to the human framework?
DR LUKAS: Certainly they would.
SENATOR HORTON: Therefore, it would be human. No matter what its form, it still would be human.
DR LUKAS: Yes, human.
SENATOR HORTON: Doctor, to your knowledge, has such a creature ever been made? By creature, I mean, of course, a synthetic human.
DR LUKAS: Yes. A matter of two hundred years ago or so. Two of them were made. But there was a difference…
SENATOR STONE: Just a minute, there! Are you referring to that old myth we hear occasionally…
DR LUKAS: Senator, it is not a myth.
SENATOR STONE: Have you documentation to back up your statement?
DR LUKAS: No, sir.
SENATOR STONE: What do you mean – no, sir? How can you come before this hearing and make a statement that you can’t backup?
SENATOR HORTON: I can back it up. At the proper time I shall place the necessary documents in evidence.
SENATOR STONE: Perhaps, then, the senator should be sitting where the witness is.
SENATOR HORTON: Not at all. I’m perfectly satisfied with this witness. You say, sir, that there was a difference…
SENATOR STONE: Just a moment, there! I object! I do not think this witness is competent.
SENATOR HORTON: Well, let’s find out. Dr Lukas, under what circumstances did you come upon this information?
DR LUKAS: About ten years ago, when I was doing some research for a paper, I applied for clearance to have access to certain records in Space Administration. You see, senator, I was following up what you call a myth. Not many people knew of it, but I had heard of it and wondered if it might not be more than a myth. So I applied for a clearance…