We knew this day was coming. There was nothing we could do to avoid it. Sadly, just as all good things must eventually come to an end, The Genetic Link (Season 2: The Search Continues) is coming to a close. We had an amazing journey and we learned astonishing facts about the human body and the science that makes you you. It has been my privilege being your trusted guide and as a going away treat, I want to share my Top 5 favorite moments on The Genetic Link.
#5: Procrastinating? Blame Your Genetics
The Genetic Link had lofty goals at the beginning of Season 1. Introducing the topic as not just a field for old wizened scientists in white lab coats, The Genetic Link’s goal was to present this revolutionary frontier in terms anyone could understand. While it struggled to pique interest in its earliest beginnings, The Genetic Link had its break-out post when it asked the question: Is Procrastination Inherited? This post went into great detail regarding studies done on fraternal and identical twins and determined that procrastination, impulsivity, and the tendency to dawdle over certain tasks have the same genetic foundation. However, what made this post special is that it was the first time The Genetic Link made genetics relatable and was rewarded with your enthusiasm.
#4: Super Bananas
A guilty pleasure of mine, October 17, 2014 marked the day The Genetic Link tackled the issue of genetically modified organisms. Weighing the potential for a banana to be fortified with additional nutrients to help malnourished countries over the potential side effects genetic engineering has on human health, the post attempted to determine whether the modified “super banana” was a hero or a villain. Filled with puns and humor, this post presented a complex problem that required you to peel back more than just the outer layers.
#3: A Cure for Aging
Probably one of my more thought provoking topics, A Cure For Aging explored the potential genetics has to grant humans near immortality. Inspired by research done by the National Institute of Health in which mice were engineered to live 20% longer, this post posed the question, “Do we deserve to live forever?” While on the one hand, living a few extra years might be nice for an individual, if everyone lived longer what would be the toll on our natural resources? Yet, isn’t the goal of medicine to make us live longer lives? These were difficult questions and ones that probably don’t have a right answer. Nevertheless, many of you weighed in with your two cents and I enjoyed seeing the varying opinions on this topic.
#2: Three-Parent Babies
Now a couple weeks into season 2, The Genetic Link’s informants (Alright, fine, my Mom) picked up a juicy tidbit of recent news when Great Britain was preparing to legalize three parent babies (Great Britain did, in fact, legalize the procedure after the post was published). Why three-parent babies? Well, many debilitating mitochondrial defects are often passed from mother to child and by using a healthy embryo from a third parent to encase the genetic information of the main parent, mitochondrial defects can be fixed before birth. What makes this special is that it is the first form of prenatal gene therapy to be legalized. However, it is estimated that until more research is done, the first three parent baby procedure won’t be done until 2016. Nevertheless, in this blog I was able to pose many questions about the ethics of genetic treatments and had some great feedback from all of you.
#1: Cloning Extinct Animals for Dummies
Hands down, the most humor-packed post of both seasons combined, “Cloning Extinct Animals for Dummies” depicted an excerpt from a fictional book of the same title which was a how-to guide for making a pet mammoth. From fake online elephant shopping at Elephants R Us, to getting down and dirty in elephant insemination and other ridiculous procedures, this blog pulled out all the stops while still giving an informative description of the current scientific status of cloning an extinct animal from scratch. Regrettably,despite my best efforts, pre-order sales for the book never made it past the Ice Age. It’s still available for $39.99 (20% off), just in case you were wondering.
Bonus Moment: CRISPR, or The End of Hypotheticals
Lastly, the blog that tied everything together. CRISPR, or the End of Hypotheticals, was a post on the recent discovery of a machine/procedure that enables scientists to make precise edits to the genome. All of the procedures and techniques that I have been describing all along in my blog, from curing obesity, to halting aging, even to engineering mice to love us (OK, that one was is still a little far-fetched), none of it had been remotely feasible until now. With the underlying message that the future is constantly catching up to you, The End of Hypotheticals shows that germ line engineering and a dystopian future of designer babies may not be as far off as you think. Do we have the right to engineer our next generation? Maybe, maybe not, but sooner rather than later, we are going to have to make a choice.
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With that, the Genetic Link (Season 2: The Search Continues) comes to a close. It has been an honor writing these posts and receiving feedback from such an amazing group of engineers, scientists, writers, business people, and other aspiring individuals. So I want to thank all of you who faithfully read my posts each week, wrote insightful comments, and made this blog truly special. With that, I say farewell and wish you good luck on your future endeavors. Ben Paskoff signing off.