Keep Us Human: If We're Truly Smart, We'll Refuse to Foolishly Tamper with Our DNA

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...