Human Nature Parent Guide

If you, like me, are old enough to remember life before personal computers, tablets, and smartphones, you might find that the pace of technological change sometimes leaves you breathless. If that’s the case, Human Nature, with its discussion of the biological revolution triggered by genetic editing, will blow your mind.

This film is chock full of experts making expansive statements like these:

CRISPR makes engineering humanity feasible.

CRISPR allows precise, targeted changes in any living organism. It’s the power to change the biosphere.

It allows us to change human evolution if we want to.

Technologies aren’t inherently good or evil. They’re a tool. They’re power.

If these assertions pique your curiosity or scare you to death, you will want to watch Human Nature. This documentary provides a detailed discussion of the technicalities involved in CRISPR, which stands for “clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats”. Basically, this refers to a segment of DNA which contains repeated genetic sequences. These sequences are found in bacteria where they are a critical part of their viral defense mechanism. But they can also be used to alter the genetic sequences of any living organism. How this was discovered and then harnessed for genetic manipulation is the subject of the movie

This production does a fine job of explaining the science behind genetic engineering and of exploring the many question that arise when humans obtain the power to basically “play God.” Do we want to address the shortage of organs for transplant by growing human organs in genetically altered pigs? Is it acceptable to produce “designer babies” who have had particular genes selected or rejected by their parents? If we edit out genes for some genetic diseases do we reduce the richness of human experience by denying people the opportunity to see the world with different perspectives? Does genetic editing place us at risk of again embracing eugenic ideologies? Is it unethical to edit the germline, that is, to make genetic edits that will be passed on to future generations? Is it ethical to reverse human aging? Is it ethical to try to recreate extinct animals?

Clearly, this isn’t going to be a popcorn movie for the whole family to watch, but it should be part of every library and is a solid resource for every teacher of biology, philosophy or ethics.

The biggest weakness of this documentary is that it often feels sterile, but that’s less of a problem in a classroom setting than in a theater. It would benefit from expanded stories of people living with genetic disorders, like the sickle cell patient featured in the film. While the scientific information is critical, it’s human nature to want to see complex issues from a personal perspective.