Keep Us Human:
If We're Truly Smart, We'll Refuse to Foolishly Tamper with Our DNA
By Bill McKibben,
Los Angeles Times
| 04. 14. 2003
The 50th anniversary of the double helix has been greeted with
worldwide hoopla. It began in February, the month that James
Watson and Francis Crick actually made their discovery, and
will culminate this month with the golden anniversary of the
paper they published announcing the news to the world.
The celebration is appropriate; understanding of the gene is
rivaled only by understanding of the atom as the great scientific
achievement of the last century. But just as cracking the atom
raised the deepest ethical and practical dilemmas, so too does
cracking the gene. Our new knowledge of genetic manipulation
forces us to ask a question other generations couldn't have
imagined: Are we a good enough species?
Consider Watson, who has been the towering figure in genetics
research since that first paper -- the "commanding general"
of the DNA revolution, in the words of London's Guardian. He
has used his fame and influence to push for changing human beings
in the most radical ways. Human embryos should be manipulated,
he has said, to increase intelligence, to eliminate shyness,
even to make...
Related Articles
By Mariella Bodemeier Loayza Careaga, The Scientist | 03.15.2024
Scientists have genetically modified isolated microbes for decades. Now, using CRISPR, they intend to target entire microbiomes.
Humans are never alone. Even in a room devoid of other people, they are always in the company of billions of microscopic beings...
By Gerry Smith, Bloomberg | 03.12.2024
When Celenise Mahmood first learned about two new gene therapies that could cure sickle cell disease, she felt a wave of relief.
Her 9-year-old son, Navid, has the inherited blood disorder. By age 5, he’d had over 30 life-saving blood...
By Carol Cardona and Michelle Kromm, Scientific American | 03.11.2024
By Nada Hassanein, New Jersey Monitor | 03.14.2024
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration late last year approved two breakthrough gene therapies for sickle cell disease patients. Now a new federal program seeks to make these life-changing treatments available to patients with low incomes — and it could...