Understanding What We Do and Don't Know About Designing Humanity's DNA
In his new book, Dr. David B. Goldstein examines the possible consequences for parents who try to determine their children’s genetic makeup.
Since 2010, it has been possible to determine a person’s genetic makeup in a matter of days, at an accessible cost for millions of people. Along with this technological breakthrough, there has emerged a movement to use this information to help prospective parents eliminate preventable genetic disease.
As the prospect of systematically excluding the appearance of unwanted mutations in children comes within reach, Dr. David B. Goldstein, John E. Borne professor of genetics and development, and director of the Institute for Genomic Medicine at CUIMC, examines the possible consequences from these types of choices in his new book, The End of Genetics.
Dr. Goldstein recently discussed the book with Columbia News, as well as his current work, his thoughts on the ancient Greeks, and why Darwin might make an engaging dinner guest.
Q. How did you come up with the idea for this book?
A. As I monitored all the genes being discovered responsible for devastating diseases, it became increasingly clear to me that increasing attention would inevitably orient toward preventing disease-causing mutations in the genomes of children. This convinced me that the non-geneticists should better understand what is likely to be possible, and I wanted to do what I could to help with that effort.
Q. What are some of the issues around parents exercising direct control over the genomes of their children that you discuss in the book?
A. The most worrying thing about designing the genomes of our children is that we simply don’t know what we are doing. The technical ability to manipulate human genomes is set to far outstrip our ability to predict the consequences of the changes that will be made.
Q. What are you working on now?
A. My work now focuses on developing therapies for strongly genetic diseases.
Q. Have you read any terrific books lately that you would recommend?
A. My latest reading is The Greeks: A Global History by Roderick Beaton, a sweeping account of the ancient and classical Greeks. The author presents the terrifying concept of system collapse to explain what may have happened to the Minoans and Mycenaeans, and, of course, with hints of what might be happening to us, too. No connection whatsoever to my work or my own writing, but that is how I like it.
Q. You're hosting a dinner party. Which three scholars or scientists, dead or alive, would you invite, and why?
A. I would very much like to know English chemist and X-ray crystallographer Rosalind Franklin’s feelings about the discovery of the structure of DNA, so she’d probably have to be on the list. And I can’t resist the question of what Darwin might have worked out if he knew about genetics. The last one would have to be one of those famous Greeks, to see what they would make of the world we are in.
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