Genetics Essay: Blaming Our DNA
As an undergrad at Stanford, I took a bioethics class from Dr. William Hurlbut, who has achieved fame for suggesting that it’s ok to use stem cells as long as they’re genetically altered to make them unable to develop into human beings. Anyway, he assigned us an essay on Brave New World and mine was apparently so bad that Dr. Hurlbut called me in to show me another student’s essay that far eclipsed mine. That meeting decimated whatever little confidence I had in my writing.
As far as most scientists go, I’ve been told that I’m a fairly decent writer. I know I’m not eloquent, but I get the point across. Occasionally, I come across a piece of scientific prose that makes me feel inadequate all over again. Dr. Kent Sepkowitz’s New York Times commentary is one of them.
The transition from the chaotic, barking family feud character of lawsuits to the sleek silence of a future devoted to cloning and splicing genes surely derives from something larger than scientific opportunity or our fascination with “Star Trek.” How modern to deflect blame suavely onto a poorly understood high-end concept, the manic twitches of deoxynucleic acid. Gosh, biology is so much bigger than we are. Nothing we can do about it, really.
While I can’t top Dr. Sepkowitz’s piece, here are my previous attempts to convince you that your genes are not your destiny - Genetic Blame Game and Who’s in Control? You or Your Genes?.
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POSTED IN: General Genetics and Health
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