Trending Now
We have updated our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use for Eurasia Group and its affiliates, including GZERO Media, to clarify the types of data we collect, how we collect it, how we use data and with whom we share data. By using our website you consent to our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy, including the transfer of your personal data to the United States from your country of residence, and our use of cookies described in our Cookie Policy.
{{ subpage.title }}
From CRISPR to cloning: The science of new humans
The benefits and risks of human enhancement using CRISPR, AI, and synthetic biology.
On GZERO World, Ian Bremmer sits down with physician and biologist Siddhartha Mukherjee to explore the recent advances, benefits, and risks of human enhancement with technology. Mukherjee’s latest book, “The Song of the Cell,” explores the history and medical science behind “the new humans,” a term he uses to describe people who have been altered in some way, initially for medical purposes and, potentially in the future, for enhancement. Bremmer and Mukherjee discuss the transformative impact of new tools like CRISPR gene-editing, AI-powered prosthetics, and brain implants that can help treat everything from movement disorders to depression.
“The idea of the human is changing,” Mukherjee says, "CRISPR, synthetic biology, prosthetic biology with AI, and cloning of individuals—that’s what I mean by the new human.”
These new medical technologies could radically improve our understanding of health and the human body, leading to a future of new medicines, cures for fatal diseases, expanded cognitive capabilities, and even communication with deceased loved ones. But there are also ethical implications to tinkering with human nature, including eugenics as a result of gene editing, the potential for AI to create toxic molecules, and the danger of real-time experimentation on the ecosystem with CRISPR. How do we balance the life-changing potential of biotech tools without changing the very nature of what it means to be human?
Watch GZERO World with Ian Bremmer every week on US public television (check local listings) and at gzeromedia.com/gzeroworld.
- You can clone your pet ›
- Is life better than ever for the human race? ›
- Steven Pinker shares his "relentless optimism" about human progress ›
- What is CRISPR? Gene editing pioneer Jennifer Doudna explains ›
- CRISPR gene editing and the human race ›
- CRISPR gene-editing tech should have limits, says Nobel laureate ... ›
- Yuval Noah Harari: AI is a “social weapon of mass destruction” to humanity - GZERO Media ›
How measuring nature at the DNA level unlocks financial growth
Katie Critchlow is CEO of NatureMetrics, a company that, well, measures nature. But how?
"We use eDNA; that's all the DNA that's left behind in the environment by every species because every species in the world contains DNA," she explains during the livestream discussion "Time for nature: Turning biodiversity risk into opportunity," hosted by GZERO in partnership with Suntory.
But the animals and plants you see, Critchlow points out, are only a tiny fraction of total life on earth. There's a lot of very small stuff too.
Those microbes, fungi, and nematodes are what matter most to business risk because they "drive the nutrient cycles and the carbon cycles and basically keep us all alive."
Learn more about this GZERO Media live discussion: https://www.gzeromedia.com/sustainability
CRISPR gene editing and the human race
Berkeley scientist Jennifer Doudna won the 2020 Nobel Prize for her work on the revolutionary gene-editing technology known as CRISPR. It has the potential to cure genetic diseases like sickle cell anemia and hereditary blindness and may even be used to treat cancer and HIV. But when it comes to editing humanity, where do we draw the line? How do we avoid falling into the same kind of dystopian nightmare outlined in Blade Runner? Doudna discussed the risks and benefits of CRISPR in an interview with Ian Bremmer on GZERO World. Also in this episode: a look at cloning our pets (speaking of going too far…).
- CRISPR gene-editing tech should have limits, says Nobel laureate ... ›
- Podcast: Gene editing tech risks and rewards: Dr. Jennifer Doudna's ... ›
- Twitter bans QAnon; CRISPR gene tech - GZERO Media ›
- Ian Explains: Will biotech breakthroughs lead to super humans? - GZERO Media ›
- Podcast: Tracking the rapid rise of human-enhancing biotech with Siddhartha Mukherjee - GZERO Media ›
- From CRISPR to cloning: The science of new humans - GZERO Media ›
- CRISPR, AI, and cloning could transform the human race - GZERO Media ›