Imagine a world in which our understanding of life and death is so advanced that we can know to treat a disease we don’t even have yet. A world where each and every unique DNA genome will be recorded at birth, in order to make genetic predictions with harrowing precision. An individual preconditioned to breast cancer could know from the beginning to pay closer attention to exercise, or a specific diet. In such a world, a child would not have to suffer incredible pain from a genetic misfortune.
“People naturally want to know, but then why not make a child that can run faster or jump higher?” University biology professor Patrick Phillips said.
Why do we die, and what makes us different from other animals? Many would call it playing God, but everyone is interested in these seemingly impossible questions that may not be science fiction for much longer. In the monthly lecture series, “Darwin’s Puzzles: The Evolution of Sex and Death,” six well known evolutionary scientists from University faculty and elsewhere will celebrate 150 years since the “Origin of Species.”
British naturalist and world traveler, Charles Darwin was 50 years old when he wrote what would become one of most important books in science. His theories on natural selection and evolution became one of the central ideas behind biology.
“Darwin was right about a lot of things, but he didn’t know anything about genetics. He couldn’t have known about it,” said Phillips, who will give the first lecture on Tuesday.
Phillips is currently studying the nematode specie C. elegans, focusing on questions about natural genetic variation, the roles of males and interactions between the sexes.
The rediscovery of Gregor Mendel’s works in 1900 strengthened Darwin’s theories on a molecular level. Our understanding has been revolutionized in the last few decades with the ability to genetically determine how close our species’ relationship is to certain animals. With rapidly advancing technology, biologists are now able to compare our DNA to that of our extinct relatives, the Neanderthals. Just a few years ago, this was an impossible idea.
Since the times of widespread condemnation of secular science, biologists like Phillips have often been challenged by society. Ken Miller, a biology professor at Brown University and one of the event’s speakers, testified as an expert in Kitzmiller v. Dover of 2005, which was the first federal court case to challenge a public school district for “intelligent design.” The school district required intelligent design – a theory proposing that certain features of organisms are too complex to be explained without a supernatural cause – as an alternative to evolution. The board of education lost the trial.
“That’s not science. Some people raise controversies to push a particular religious agenda,” Phillips said.
Scientists have also faced more palpable arguments. For example, opponents challenge how natural selection could produce the seemingly clumsy peacock tail, which makes it easier prey for predators. Now biologists understand that the tail has a different kind of function: It boosts mating, thereby increasing the species’ population.
A common misconception of evolutionary theory is that it is based wholly on fossil evidence. Another is that evolution has discovered the origin of life, when really, it is exploration of the development of life.
Biologists are also asking the question “why do we die?” The ancient truth of death is constantly in our thoughts and deeply embedded in our culture. It is hard to imagine any other way, but scientists are coming close to figuring it out the specific reasons for aging. According to Phillips, the basic principle is that things that occur early in life have a heavier impact on natural selection.
“It’s the same thing with investing money,” he said.
Another surprise is that evidence points toward universal rules to the theory of dying, meaning scientists found that different species break down in ways more similar than they previously thought.
But the biggest thing we don’t know is how genetic information in DNA becomes life.
“We don’t totally know how genes interact to turn into complex organisms, and we’re just now being able to figure that out,” Phillips said.
In a world that is undergoing mass extinction of species, scientists are finding out more and more. We are already able to find relatives from a simple cheek cell sample and able to determine diseases before birth. Phillips believes we will have this information in incredible detail in the near future. In the future, drug companies will be able to target individuals according to their genetic background.
“In a decade everything will be different. I think that will change the way we think about ourselves,” Phillips said.
This will inevitably raise the scientific literacy of the general public, as well as difficult ethical implications.
“What society will do with this information leads to questions that go well beyond scientific ones,” Phillips said.
For example, we might have the knowledge to calculate that an individual may be preconditioned to a disease, but in many cases, we will still not have the ability to treat it. With this in mind, one may wonder why someone would want to know the information to begin with. There are also many questions for the already controversial field of genetic engineering.
“We’re there; we’re very close to being there. I think people aren’t prepared for the change that’s coming,” Phillips said.
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