Science vs values

The story Designer babies, anyone? (November 27) hinted at the unpleasant realities that we might have to encounter in the near future. Twenty years from now, when technological advancement would have made several more leaps, will the terms family, bonding, attachment and commitment vanish? Perhaps, because tailor-made children certainly cannot be expected to honour these values. But for humanity’s sake, we had better keep ourselves satisfied with technology till as far as IVF treatment is concerned. Something like Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis may jeopardise life to such an extent that life itself may not be possible again. Let us show restraint before things get out of hand.

Subrata Manna
Siliguri

High tech

Magical microbubbles (November 13) was highly informative. However, the article left me ruing the fact that the benefits of the technique of Sonoporation, undoubtedly an expensive procedure, might not be available to the common people. Another thing that struck me is that opticians would be badly affected if this technology gets wide acceptance in the market.

Arta Mishra
Cuttack

Spam SMS

I find the technology columns (Techfile and the new Gizmos) very useful. The best are perhaps the ones on mobile phones. The articles come handy in knowing what’s in and what’s out. They also keep us informed about the viruses affecting our PCs and how to deal with them on our own. But I was astonished to know that the viruses have found a new victim — smart phones. And what’s more, they can even send spam SMSs to these phones! It’s a pity technological advancement is never without complications.

Rudradeep Biswas
Via email

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