The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis.
I’ve written a new book on human genetic modification and designer babies. It is called GMO Sapiens: The Life-Changing Science of Designer Babies.
The title was chosen as a portmanteau (or mashup) of GMO and Homo sapiens.
As a scientist working on genetic modification in my own lab, I’ve seen that we are in the early stages of a revolution in this area related to human genetic modification.
Unlike in past decades, today the possibility of heritable human genetic modification is very real. Based on all that we now know it is reasonable to predict that someone will attempt to create genetically modified people including designer babies in coming years. The results could be great or disastrous, but in either case (or probably more likely some mixture of the two) the outcomes are going to be revolutionary.
Are we ready for what may come next?
How will this affect individuals and society as a whole?
More thinking, discussion, and transparency are urgently needed. The goal of this book is to move in a constructive direction by educating and stimulating debate as well as dialogue.
Some influential scientists and thinkers such as George Church and Steven Pinker are publicly expressing enthusiasm for the idea of making people who would be GMOs. I have proposed my own plan for how we should carefully chart a path forward, but others want to step on the gas full speed ahead on human modification.
Read full, original post: GMO Sapiens: Human Genetic Modification on the Table
