The Mutant Project
Inside the Global Race to Genetically Modify Humans
1 of 1 copy available
At a conference in Hong Kong in November 2018, Dr. He Jiankui announced that he had created the first genetically modified babies?twin girls named Lulu and Nana?sending shockwaves around the world. A year later, a Chinese court sentenced Dr. He to three years in prison for "illegal medical practice."
As scientists elsewhere start to catch up with China's vast genetic research program, gene editing is fueling an innovation economy that threatens to widen racial and economic inequality. Fundamental questions about science, health, and social justice are at stake: Who gets access to gene editing technologies? As countries around the globe, from the U.S. to Indonesia, loosen regulations, can we shape research agendas to promote an ethical and fair society?
Eben Kirksey takes us on a groundbreaking journey to meet the key scientists, lobbyists, and entrepreneurs who are bringing cutting-edge genetic modification tools like CRISPR to your local clinic. He also ventures beyond the scientific echo chamber, talking to disabled scholars, doctors, hackers, chronically-ill patients, and activists who have alternative visions of a future shaped by genetic engineering.
The Mutant Project empowers us to ask the right questions, uncover the truth, and better prepare for this brave new world we're already entering.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
November 10, 2020 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9781705000526
- File size: 321829 KB
- Duration: 11:10:28
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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July 27, 2020
Anthropology professor Kirksey (Emergent Ecologies) explores the social impact gene editing in this unfortunately lackluster treatise. He begins with controversial Chinese scientist Jiankui He, who, in 2018, used CRISPR technology to alter two human embryos’ DNA, and then looks into the field’s ethical questions. These include it being too expensive for more than a small global elite to access, and the prospect of genetic traits being eliminated from embryos for spurious as well as valid reasons. To illustrate these concerns, Kirksey introduces intriguing characters, including a DIYer who tried to cure himself of HIV and “disrupt the business model of big biotech companies” he sees as contributing to gene therapy’s high costs, and an Indonesian artist who created a CRISPR-inspired art installation to investigate the uncertain “place for brown and Black babies” in a color-conscious world where fetus skin color could be changed at will. However, Kirksey’s discussions of the affordability problem yield no convincing solutions, and he has a habit of repeatedly refers to one person or another as a “white guy,” striking an odd note. Those looking for an in-depth analysis of the possibilities and dilemmas of gene editing will be disappointed.
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