Human Nature

The science behind gene editing and its uses, good or bad, explored in some detail. Left me thinking of the impact when CRISPR meets AI and the potential chaos of their illegitimate children. The opportunity for the human species to embark on irreversible journeys has never been greater. Chuck in a bit of climate change and some despotic governance and you really do have the foundations for what was once the fantasy of science fiction.

Good points all around this issue of whether we could or should, but in all reality it's coming either way and there is nothing we can do about it. Humankinds hubris is unparalleled as a species on this planet and it has led us to both achieving some our most wildly fantastic dreams and depth defying hellish nightmares. Technology will change us forever. We are seeing that played out right before our eyes in 2020. The question is - what defines perfection when we finally reach the moment of our singularity? Will we even slow down enough to even ponder that question? Nature is a magical formula that over the course of billions of years has gotten us this far. The balance in it is for a reason, and if we tend to disagree with that and opt to change it the unintended consequences may take us in directions that dissolves the true human experience. That being said the true wisdom from this documentary came from the little boy with sickle cell. He made it clear he would not have wanted to be shorted on his true human experience as the roll of natures dice made him who he is. I was blown away by his self awareness and his bravery in light of his condition. After a few hundred years will we look back at this and marvel at what it once meant to live and be apart of the true human experience locked in with the beautiful magical power of billions of years of nature? Maybe. Maybe not. I guess if once you could fly and then you couldn't and so much time had passed that you completely lost the feeling of what it felt like to fly. Would it even matter? Difficult questions.

Greetings again from the darkness. That feeling when you start up a 95 minute documentary and a black and white clip of a Biologist giving a speech in 1966 fills the screen ... it's a moment of dread, which fortunately, filmmaker Adam Bolt quickly turns into a fascinating education. The fellow giving the 1966 speech (I missed his name) states that someday we will be able to alter human genes. More than 50 years later, Mr. Bolt's film shows us that scientists are beyond that, and on the verge of developments that demand some serious and literally life-altering discussions.

Deep science and cinematic story-telling aren't typically a good mix, but here we have a blending of journalists, researchers, and many types of scientists working with a knowledgeable filmmaker. They succeed in explaining the 'why' and 'what for' of gene-editing in a way that even a simpleton such as yours truly could follow. Going in, the concept of CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) was vague at best (for me), and those involved with the film explain how this has opened the scientific door to the building blocks of life through gene-editing.

For structure, the film is divided into six chapters: Needle in a Haystack, CRISPR, The Gene Machine, Brave New World, The Good Gene, and Playing God. These chapters touch on the story of young David Sanchez (afflicted with Sickle Cell Anemia), food and bacteria, Aldous Huxley's book, eugenics, and morality. With so much to cover, the film excels in providing just enough for viewers, and putting the spotlight on those who can best explain their area of expertise or what results might mean.

Science often complements humanity while simultaneously standing opposed to nature. The film even shows the infamous JURASSIC PARK clip where Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) tries to confront the idea of genetic altering by stating, "Scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should." There are also clips from BLADE RUNNER and GATTACA, and they all lead us to the question on everyone's mind ... should we play God? Most agree that stopping genetic diseases is a worthy goal, but how about designer babies? That's where discussion of Huxley's "Brave New World" and Hitler come in. Should we be architecting the "perfect human being"? When Dr. Jennifer Doudna asks, "What have I done?", she's smiling on the outside as a scientist, but surely has doubts as a person.

Keegan DeWitt's score is top notch for a documentary, but a film about isolating individual and specific strands of DNA isn't really about style. Listening to bioengineers discuss their own work and that of others in the field, gives us the basics of the science involved; however, as a society we must come to grips with that big question. Do we play the hand we're dealt, or do we stack the deck and keep one up the sleeve? At some point very soon, we must decide. As the film states, after 2 billion years, this is the end of the beginning. What does the next stage look like?

I thought (given the way this documentary is described) that I'd be watching an explanation of how CRISPR works. But this is not a documentary about CRISPR, it's a documentary about attitudes towards CRISPR.

If you're into that sort of thing, and into the sort of weepy human interest BS that occupies 90% of the Olympics or American Idol, go ahead and enjoy. But if your goal is to learn some actual science at something beyond a third grade level, this is not the documentary you want.

Human race is at the point that dramatically could change the life of himself and all other creatures around, But the greed inside him doesn't let him do it in the right way. People in power would use it to create restless slaves who could work 24/7 and fearless soldiers who could fight 24/7. Technology is great but we are not mature enough to use it in the right way. Look at the internet and social media and the way how people waste this technology on some pointless activities. Still long way to go.