Hacking Darwin

A genetic revolution is coming, asserts futurist Jamie Metzl, and he describes a thrilling and terrifying future. The genetic age could free humanity from genetic diseases and allow people to adapt to environmental collapse or live on other planets. Metzl writes for a lay audience and offers easy-to-understand sketches of significant technologies. His primary question: What will it mean to be human?

Genetic Revolution

For billions of years, random genetic mutations have driven the evolutionary process. Recent advances in genetic knowledge and technology enable scientists to treat the genome – the complete human genetic code – as if it were a software code they can read, edit and, eventually, write.