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
Media coverage of recent developments in embryo gene editing might seem to suggest that gene-edited babies are close to becoming a reality. As tech billionaires eager to profit off of techno-eugenics invest in “designer baby” technologies, attempts to normalize heritable genome editing – which remains unsafe and raises significant ethical and societal concerns – are especially dangerous. It’s worth taking a closer look at these developments and what they mean, in a way that pushes back on narratives normalizing the...
By Roxanne Khamsi, The Atlantic | 07.07.2026
When Ludivine Verboogen and Romain Alderweireldt’s third child was born in Belgium in late 2015, they marveled at his long fingers. Perhaps one day he will be a famous pianist, they thought. But soon Ludivine grew worried that her son...
By Carl Zimmer and Marco Hernandez , The New York Times | 07.01.2026
Scientists have long dreamed of discovering the alchemy by which chemicals can be turned into life. On Wednesday, a team at the University of Minnesota announced that it had taken a major step toward that vision.
Blending together dozens of...
By Michael Le Page , New Scientist | 06.25.2026
We now know the master gene that controls embryonic development in people. Called NANOG, its role has been identified by making precise changes to the DNA of fertilised eggs using a technique called CRISPR base editing.
The discovery might lead...
