Designer Genes: A New Era in the Evolution of Man

For any area of investigation, in any field of science, there comes a time when the critical mass of what we now know brings us to the very edge of what we soon will be capable of doing—or what we have dared to dream. Dr. Steven Potter’s book,Designer Genes: A New Era in the Evolution of Man, comes at such a time—offering the citizen-scientist a thoughtful, scientific discussion of the coming era of gene selection in human procreation, replacing evolution and natural selection with choice, eliminating the inheritance of genetic disease, and making available gene combinations that dramatically improve human health and capabilities. A professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati, Potter conveys scientific concepts that may be difficult for the nonspecialist to grasp, making Designer Genes a book appropriate for those who do not have a strong background in genetic engineering but would like to understand the current advancements in the field. Additionally, the author provides an accessible history of the developments in molecular biology and genetics that have occurred over the past few decades, chronicling many of the significant experiments that have profoundly shaped the field of genetics. Rather than beginning with a tutorial in genetic medicine or developmental biology, Potter’s first chapter introduces readers to “real-world” implications of modern biotechnology through the “The True Story of Adam”—that is, Adam Nash and his older sister, Molly. The Nash family made international headlines in 2000 when Lisa and Jack Nash gave birth to their son Adam, whose umbilical cord blood stem cells were used to treat Molly (born in 1994 with a rare genetic disease known as Fanconi anemia). It was not the use of Adam’s cord blood per se that attracted the interest of so many around the world, scientist and nonscientist alike; rather, it was how and why Adam was conceived: through in vitro fertilization and preimplantation genetic diagnosis techniques that allowed physicians to specifically select an embryo without the Fanconi anemia gene but a good transplant match to his sibling. Such genetic and molecular techniques have created the means for a potential explosion in the ability and desire of scientists and parents to manipulate and possibly even decide the DNA sequences of their children. Potter concludes this chapter contemplating the question: Where is humanity headed? Rather than answering that question or exploring it straight away, the author shifts gears and provides in the following chapters an overview to the human genome, genes, gene sequencing, genetic disease, and stem cell research as well as examples of genetics in practice. For example, in a chapter simply titled “Dogs,” Potter focuses on dog-breeding and how it is possible to separate genetic traits to produce various breeds. As in agriculture, this type of selective breeding was of course once done without an underlying understanding of the function of genes or knowledge of specific genotypes for chosen traits; instead, breeders would speculate and then check “results” by Bioethical Inquiry (2012) 9:209–210 DOI 10.1007/s11673-012-9363-1