Hack Darwin: Gene Engineering and the Future of Humanity

Our body is akin to a lottery: at the start, one can win health and even genius. But no one is immune to genetic diseases. Do we want this for our children? Jamie Metzl believes that we should not rely on a blind watchmaker when we have the ability to manage the genome like programming code. Controlled evolution will allow humans not only to eradicate certain diseases but also to become more perfect — and happy. It’s just a matter of choosing the most successful configuration of genes. However, this scenario is inevitably fraught with risks: we might lose a gene whose importance we do not yet understand; society may potentially split into genetically affluent and impoverished; states may start a war for technologies. That is why the development of genetic ethics must proceed in parallel with laboratory research. Changing humanity at a genetic level is no longer science fiction but a natural consequence of the development of biotechnology. The time has come to arm ourselves with facts.