Recombinant Dna and Genetic Engineering

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Scientists keep on using new terms uh... partly deliberately to avoid the bad connotations of the previous definition. The key thing that we now do would be to use this kind of editing technique to use enzymes to target a particular sequence of dna and then alter it in a particular way. This can produce rather unpleasant consequences so you want to be sure it's clearly worked in your embryo which i don't think has happened yet.

Shermer and Cobb discuss: objections to genetic engineering (political, religious, cultural) • selective breeding • recombinant DNA • the ethics of genetics • patenting life • gene therapy • gene editing • CRISPR • literature and films on the dangers of genetic engineering • bioweapons • 3 Laws of Behavior Genetics and what people fear about it.

Matthew Cobb is a professor in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Manchester. He is the author of six books: The Idea of the Brain: A History; Life’s Greatest Secret: The Race to Crack the Genetic Code; Generation; The Resistance: The French Fight Against the Nazis; Eleven Days in August: The Liberation of Paris in 1944; and Smell: A Very Short Introduction. He lives in England.