Book Review: Redesigning Humans: Our Inevitable Genetic Future by Gregory Stock

RATING *****

James Watson, codiscoverer of the structure of DNA, asked, “If we could make better humans … why shouldn’t we?” That question is at the core of this book, and Gregory Stock responds in the affirmative. Not that we have a choice, he asserts; genetic engineering is coming whether we like it or not. And he makes a damn good case.

Rather than getting right to it, however, he begins with an anti-Kurzweil chapter. Ray Kurzweil is the author of the Age of Spiritual Machines, which projects the rapid development of artificial intelligence during the next few decades and the integration of human and machine intelligence (see my review). Stock argues that the interface between the human nervous system and silicon would be incredibly complex, making it highly unlikely we will be physically integrated with our computers within this timeframe. He believes that we will communicate much more effectively with the machines through our senses, becoming fyborgs (functional cyborgs).

Then he moves on to the main course, beginning with preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). Physicians have been performing genetic testing of embryos since 1989, with screening now available for a handful of genetic diseases. This technology will continue to expand, allowing parents to select specific embryos for implantation in the uterus, effectively enabling us to have children with certain genetic tendencies. The next advance, germinal choice technologies (GCT), will arrive within the next decade or two, allowing us to enhance our children’s naturally occurring genetic inheritance. Artificial chromosomes, loaded with selected genes, might be the foundation.

Stock understands how divisive this issue will be, but argues that it can’t be halted (not that he wants to stop it). He argues effectively for a reasonable degree of regulation, although he believes that the ultimate decision must remain in the hands of parents.

This is a book focused more on ethics and issues rather than technology. If you’re interested more in the nuts and bolts of genetic engineering, look elsewhere. Whether you agree with him or not, Stock lays out the issues and his answers in a clear and compelling manner.

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