The Gene: Unlocking the Human Code, with Siddhartha Mukherjee
Genetics has revolutionised not just how we think of biology but how we think of ourselves. We are, in the words of one geneticist, the first organism that has \u2018learned to read its own instructions\u2019. Now, with the breakthrough of gene-editing technology \u2014 whose precision allows us to alter a single letter of DNA \u2014 we can now not only decipher but rewrite our genetic code. We may soon be able to treat diseases such as cancer not simply with drugs, but with genetic manipulation. Yet behind this medical revolution lies the prospect of something altogether more worrying. Already, we possess the technology to add to our genetic code at will, and thus create the world\u2019s first generation of \u2018transgenic\u2019 humans. As we intervene genetically on ourselves with ever more accuracy, do we risk changing what it means to be human? In a potential quest for the genetically \u2018normal\u2019, will we risk annihilating the very diversity and mutations on which evolution depends? These are some of the questions that the Pulitzer...\nSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/intelligencesquared.\n\nSee acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices