From the Bookshelf of Science and Inquiry…

Hacking Darwin: Genetic Engineering and the Future of Humanity

Jamie Metzl

Start date: August 1, 2021

Finish date: August 31, 2021

Discussion: Book Club 2021

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Book Club 2021

August 2021 - Hacking Darwin
By Betsy , co-mod · 14 posts · 109 views

last updated Jun 30, 2023 11:21AM

December 2021 - Calling Bullshit
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Sep 16, 2021 Jim rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 1audio, 2non-fiction, science

A very good primer that covers genetically engineering ourselves & the issues that raises. I really liked the way the author framed some of the questions through stories. That really made the issues understandable, even personal.

For instance, a woman in an IVF clinic choosing which embryo to bring to term. This simple setting allows for the exploration of a variety of issues past, present, & future in a rational, but very human way. If she discards one because it has a recognizable 'defect' (Ta ...more

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Apr 21, 2024 CatReader rated it liked it

Shelves: cc

As a physician-scientist practicing medicine in the genetics and diagnostics fields, and someone who's fascinated by technology and the future in general, I frequently find myself drawn to speculative non-fiction about the future of science and medicine. In Hacking Darwin, Jamie Metzl, who's not a scientist, talks about his optimistic mindset about the future of genetic engineering to make humans healthier, smarter, longer-lived, etc. (much of the book focuses on humans, though genetic engineeri As a physician-scientist practicing medicine in the genetics and diagnostics fields, and someone who's fascinated by technology and the future in general, I frequently find myself drawn to speculative non-fiction about the future of science and medicine. In Hacking Darwin, Jamie Metzl, who's not a scientist, talks about his optimistic mindset about the future of genetic engineering to make humans healthier, smarter, longer-lived, etc. (much of the book focuses on humans, though genetic engineering of crops and animals is briefly discussed) while simultaneously discussing the ethical implications of such a world and how it will likely further global inequalities unless we develop ethical guidelines now.

While I am agreement with his latter point, I found myself struggling with the first point, based on differences between how Metzl and I understand human genetics. Most traits and common diseases like cardiovascular disease aren't monogenic (caused by a variant in a single gene), and even those that are monogenic can't all be cured by getting CRISPR to edit a few DNA base pairs. Cell biology is complex, and DNA variants can be pathogenic by a number of mechanisms -- from single DNA base pair changes that are low-hanging fruit by today's technologies, to complex insertions/deletions, intronic variants, 5' untranslated region variants that lead to aberrant expression, to deletions of whole exons or genes, to dominant negative/gain-of-function changes. The best uses of human genetic engineering today, in my opinion, are pre-implantation genetic diagnosis to select for embryos without a devastating familial mutation, which started several decades ago (discussed in books like Joselin Linder's memoir The Family Gene: A Mission to Turn My Deadly Inheritance into a Hopeful Future, and Gina Kolata's book Mercies in Disguise: A Story of Hope, a Family's Genetic Destiny, and the Science That Rescued Them), and the emergency of gene therapies starting in the 2020s for diseases like sickle cell anemia, spinal muscular atrophy, and hemophilia A that introduce functional genes in people whose inherited copies are faulty and lead to much morbidity and mortality.

As a kid, I read Greg Bear's science fiction short story book Tangents (1989), which contains the story "Sisters" about a hypothetical future where most babies are genetically engineered for desirable traits (not unlike Metzl's projections for the near-/mid-term future), which goes terribly wrong as the engineered individuals all develop unforeseen complications. At this point, our technology is still immature enough where this may be a reality should our hubris overpower our science and ethics, as may be seen with China's CRISPR babies engineered by He Jiankui -- CRISPR gene editing was performed with the goal of rendering both copies of the babies' CCR5 genes nonfunctional, which confers resistance to HIV infection (it's a naturally-occurring phenomenon in rare individuals today), but in addition to failing to genetically disrupt both copies of CCR5 in either baby, there were unintended variants created in CCR5 and possibly off-target effects that remain to be seen.

The other major elephant in the room on this topic are environmental factors. Even if we were able to hypothetically engineer humans to have the lowest possible risk of cardiovascular disease, such humans would also have to spend a lifetime exercising consistently and avoiding poor dietary choices (i.e., the Western diet) to have maximal impact. Metzl talks about this in his discussion of the longevity community who try to prolong their lives via metabolic hacks and a potpourri of supplements, but really, to counter any disease of longevity (hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, dementia, cancer, etc.), there's no one-and-done fix.

Further reading:
Seed Money: Monsanto's Past and Our Food Future by Bartow Elmore -- about the genetic engineering of crops -- which in itself isn't a bad thing, but has been exploited by certain multinational organizations in what should be a cautionary tale for the prospect of human genetic engineering
Human Errors: A Panorama of Our Glitches, from Pointless Bones to Broken Genes by Nathan Lents - a good counterpoint to this book
The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance by David Epstein
Deep Medicine: How Artificial Intelligence Can Make Healthcare Human Again by Eric Topol -- my favorite writer about the future of healthcare
The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race by Walter Isaacson ...more

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