Humans 2.0: Writing the future of human evolution

Authors

  • Gemma Marfany University of Barcelona (Spain).

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7203/metode.10.12554

Keywords:

genome sequencing, genetic editing, human genetic modification, genetic determinism, bioethics

Abstract

Can humans control the future evolution of our species? Based on current knowledge in genetics, one can infer and extrapolate what may happen in the near future. After all, if we are to predict the future, we must first understand the foundations of our present. To answer the first question, I will briefly present what we know about our genome and whether we have enough data to infer who we are (known as the genotype–phenotype correlation), then I will present new technological advances and their potential impact on our evolution.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Gemma Marfany, University of Barcelona (Spain).

Professor of Genetics at the University of Barcelona (Spain), with an extensive scientific and academic career in genetics. She directs a research group investigating the genetic basis of rare hereditary ailments, especially blindness. She is a member of the Institute of Biomedicine (IBUB), attached to CIBERER, and of several commissions on bioethics. She is the co-founder of DBGen, a company which performs genetic diagnosis, has written two popular science books, and writes a weekly scientific science column at www.elnacional.cat .  

References

Apte, R. S. (2018). Gene therapy for retinal degeneration. Cell, 173(1), 5. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2018.03.021

Beans, C. (2018). Science and culture: Wearable tech meets tattoo art in a bid to revolutionize both. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 115(14), 3504–3506. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1803214115

De Lecuona, I., Casado, M., Marfany, G., López-Baroni, M., & Escarrabill, M. (2017). Gene editing in humans: Towards a global and inclusive debate for responsible research.

Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine, 90(4), 673–681. PMID: 29259532

Gaskell, G., Bard, I., Allansdottir, A., Vieira da Cunha, R., Eduard, P., Hampel, J., ... Zwart, H. (2017). Public views on gene editing and its uses. Nature Biotechnology, 35, 1021–1023. doi: 10.1038/nbt.3958

Gerbault, P., Liebert, A., Itan, Y., Powell, P., Currat, M., Burger, J. ... Thomas, M. J. (2011). Evolution of lactase persistence: An example of human niche construction. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B Biological Sciences, 366(1566), 863–877. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2010.0268

Hirsch, T., Rothoeft, T., Teig, N., Bauer, J. W., Pellegrini, G., De Rosa, L. ... De Luca, M. (2017). Regeneration of the entire human epidermis using transgenic stem cells. Nature, 551, 327–332. doi: 10.1038/nature24487

Kalia, S. S., Adelman, K., Bale, S. J., Chung, W. K., Eng, C., Evans, J. P. ... Miller, D. T. (2017). Recommendations for reporting of secondary findings in clinical exome and genome sequencing, 2016 update (ACMG SF v2.0): A policy statement of the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics. Genetics in Medicine, 19(2), 249–255. doi: 10.1038/gim.2016.190 

Ku, C. S., Polychronakos, C., Tan, E. K., Naidoo, N., Pawitan, Y., Roukos, D. H. ... Cooper D. N. (2013). A new paradigm emerges from the study of de novo mutations in the context of neurodevelopmental disease. Molecular Psychiatry, 18(2), 141–153. doi: 10.1038/mp.2012.58 

Lim, E. T., Uddin, M., De Rubeis, S., Chan, Y., Kamumbu, A. S.,  Xhang, X., ... Walsh, C. A. (2017). Rates, distribution and implications of postzygotic mosaic mutations in autism spectrum disorder. Nature Neuroscience, 20, 1217–1224. doi: 10.1038/nn.4598

McCullough, J. M., Heath, K. M., & Smith, A. M. (2015). Hemochromatosis: Niche construction and the genetic domino effect in the European Neoli­thic. Human Biology, 87(1), 39–58. PMID: 26416321

Mojica, F. J. M., & Montoliu, L. (2016). On the origin of CRISPR-Cas technology: From prokaryotes to mammals. Trends in Microbiology, 24(10), 811–820. doi: 10.1016/j.tim.2016.06.005

Montoliu, L., Merchant, J., Hirsch, F., Abecassis, M., Jouannet, P., Baertschi, B., ... & Chneiweiss, H. (2018). ARRIGE arrives: Toward the responsible use of genome editing. The CRISPR Journal, 1(2), 128–129. doi: 10.1089/crispr.2018.29013.mil

Roukos, D. H. (2014). Innovation versus evidence: To trust direct-to-consumer personal genomic tests? Expert Review of Molecular Diagnostics, 11, 1–4. doi: 10.1586/erm.10.99

Santander, N. G., Contreras-Duarte, S., Awad, M. F., Lizama, C., Passalacqua, I., Rigotti, A., & Busso, D. (2013). Developmental abnormalities in mouse embryos lacking the HDL receptor SR-BI. Human Molecular Genetics, 22(6), 1086–1096. doi: 10.1093/hmg/dds510

The 1000 Genomes Project Consortium. (2015). A global reference for human genetic variation. Nature, 526, 68–74. doi: 10.1038/nature15393

Vernot, B., & Pääbo, S. (2018). The predecessors within... Cell, 173(1), 6–7. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2018.03.023

Wang, H., La Russa, M., & Li, Q. S. (2016). CRISPR/Cas9 in genome editing and beyond. Annual Reviews in Biochemistry, 85, 227–264. doi: 10.1146/annurev-biochem-060815-014607

Downloads

Published

2020-01-08

How to Cite

Marfany, G. (2020). Humans 2.0: Writing the future of human evolution. Metode Science Studies Journal, (10), 41–49. https://doi.org/10.7203/metode.10.12554
Metrics
Views/Downloads
  • Abstract
    6735
  • PDF
    818

Issue

Section

The challenges of science

Metrics

Similar Articles

<< < > >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.