What Gene Editing Can Do for Humankind?
In WSJ you'll find a good op-ed by Walter Isaacson,
After millions of centuries during which evolution happened “naturally,” humans now can hack the code of life and engineer our own genetic futures. Or, for those who decry gene editing as “playing God,” let’s put it this way: Nature and nature’s God, in their wisdom, have evolved a species that can modify its own genome.
Like any evolutionary trait, this new ability may help our species to thrive—and perhaps even produce successor species. Or it may not. It could be one of those evolutionary traits that leads a species down a path that endangers its survival. Evolution is fickle that way.
This is why it is useful for all of us to try to understand this new room that we are about to enter, one that seems mysterious but can also fill us with hope. Not everything needs to be decided right away. We can begin by asking what type of world we want to leave for our children. Then we can feel our way forward together, step by step, and preferably hand in hand.
