UNRAVELING THE GENOME

March 21, 2000
		The completion of the Human Genome Project will represent a groundbreaking scientific and technical achievement. It will also represent a profound ethical challenge. Matt Ridley, author of Genome: The Autobiography Of A Species In 23 Chapters, answers your questions.

Forum introduction Viewer questions Viewer comments     Online Health Special: Gene Therapy February 29, 2000 A discussion with Matt Ridley, author of Genome: The Autobiography Of A Species In 23 Chapters.     The Human Genome Project American Society of Gene Therapy Human Gene Therapy National Cancer Institute Q & A on Gene Therapy

For the first time history, humanity will know the sequence of every human gene. While that does not mean scientists will know how each gene works or how they relate one another, a complete genomic sequence of the human cell's 23 chromosomes will allows scientists and doctors to fully understand, and possibly manipulate, them. In his book Genome: The Autobiography of A Species in 23 Chapters, author Matt Ridley explores not only genomic science but some of the ethical issues this new knowledge creates. In a NewsHour interview with Ray Suarez, Ridley said:   This knowledge has huge opportunities, obviously, for curing cancer and things like that. But it also brings great risks, risks that we might misapply this knowledge, that we might do things with it that could be unethical and cruel... We have to tread very carefully into the future. I mean, if we were to start genetically engineering our children, not just to get rid of cruel diseases, but also perhaps to enhance their intelligence or their musical ability or something like that, then that would be a very dangerous step. In his book, Ridley also points out that while a person's genes may increase the chances that he or she will posses certain traits, they do not guarantee them. A person's environment also has a huge impact on a person's character, he says. So what do you think? How should society use this new genetic information? Should parents manipulate their children's DNA in an attempt to improve their lives, or should such manipulation be outlawed? Should people be tested to find out what they are genetically inclined to be a success? Mr. Ridley's answers your questions.