As soon as it was understood that DNA, there was this language, you know, DNA is the code for life. By kind of 1961, when the genetic code was cracked, everybody accepts that DNA is the genetic material and people start to think about how we could deal with genetic diseases. And in 1967, Marshall Nirenberg, who was about to win the Nobel Prize,. he said, look, by the time we can do, we're going to be able to do this soon. And we need to think about it now.
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Matthew Cobb is Professor of Zoology at the University of Manchester and also the presenter of the BBC radio series Genetic Dreams, Genetic Nightmares. His latest book is The Genetic Age, which tells the story of humanity's quest to get to the heart of the building blocks of life – our genes - through science, industry and medicine. The book reflects on how these efforts have ranged from profound results to disturbing realities and anticipates a future that will be fraught with disagreement over the ethics of gene editing. Hosting this discussion is the physicist and broadcaster, Helen Czerski.
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