Name: The age of genetic wonder
Uploaded: 2019-02-15T15:44:36Z
Duration: 17 min 56 s
Description: Gene-editing tools like CRISPR enable us to program life at its most fundamental level. But this raises some pressing questions: If we can generate new species from scratch, what should we build? Should we redesign humanity as we know it? Juan Enriquez forecasts the possible futures of genetic editing, exploring the immense uncertainty and opportunity of this next frontier.

Juan Enriquez: The age of genetic wonder

The age of genetic wonder

Gene-editing tools like CRISPR enable us to program life at its most fundamental level. But this raises some pressing questions: If we can generate new species from scratch, what should we build? Should we redesign humanity as we know it? Juan Enriquez forecasts the possible futures of genetic editing, exploring the immense uncertainty and opportunity of this next frontier.

Biology has shifted from a slow, reactive science to an era where life can be read, edited, and even programmed like computer code. With gene-editing tools, scientists have already created the world's first synthetic life form, and the cost of sequencing a genome now falls faster than Moore's law. These advances spark not just new medicines, but new industries and urgent debates, from carbon-neutral fuels to the ethics of redesigning humans or eradicating disease-carrying mosquitoes. Each discovery opens unprecedented opportunities while demanding caution about unintended consequences.