The central question of this fast-paced account of where modern genetics is taking us is simple: How far should we go in changing our genetic identity? Assuming, in tandem with current research, that we will be able to manipulate the human genome at a level of detail that will allow for the cure of many horrible diseases: Should we also rethink our own design? If so, where do we draw the line between the acceptable and the morally repulsive?įor billions of years, life on Earth evolved through the process of Darwinian evolution via natural selection: Small errors during reproduction propagate from parents to offspring, occasionally offering some a survival advantage to find food or fight enemies. Like Metzl, I believe the conversation of where this is taking us - and how such advances should be regulated - is essential. This is no wild sci-fi extrapolation but is already beginning to happen, given advances in genomics and gene-editing techniques.

His case, based on an extrapolation of current research, is firmly grounded on what is indeed possible within the next decade or so. Metzl writes with great clarity and a sense of urgency that we should all take to heart. The prospects border on what would, a few years back, be considered a mix of impossible and, to many, immoral. His focus, as the book title indicates, is the impact of genetic engineering in the very definition of what it means to be human. That being the case, how can we control where it is going? And who is the 'we' in control? In Hacking Darwin: Genetic Engineering and the Future of Humanity, the technology futurist, geopolitical expert, past White House fellow, and, like this author, dedicated endurance athlete Jamie Metzl paints a picture that is at once wondrous and terrifying.

But do we know where it is going? Not exactly.

Book hacking darwin