Genetics of Original Sin
The Impact of the Past on the Future of Humanity
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- €13.99
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- €13.99
Publisher Description
“In this book I examine the extraordinary saga of life on Earth in the light of the most recent scientific discoveries. This saga has resulted in the extraordinary success of our species, and in the mortal threats that it has posed for the future.
By favoring immediate benefits, to the detriment, sometimes, of long-term advantages, natural selection, in my opinion, is the source of this remarkable success, but also of the perils that come out of it.
Modern science has established the implausibility of the Biblical tale for the origins of human beings; it has not, however, invalidated the intuition that inspired it. Humanity is, infact, tainted by an intrinsic defect, by a genetic “original sin,” that threatens to lead to its demise. We do indeed need redemption to save us, but it can only come from humanity itself.
We must find in the resources of our minds a wisdom that is not inscribed in our genes.” C. de D.
The book of a great biologist, but also of a moralist.
Christian de Duve, Nobel Laureate in Medicine, is professor emeritus at the Université catholique de Louvain and at Rockefeller University in New York. He is the author of À l'écoute du vivant (2002) and of Singularités (2005) [Singularities: Landmarks on the Pathways of Life], both best-sellers.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Nobel-prize winning Belgian biologist de Duve (Singularities) ascribes "humanity's inability to come to grips with threats that extend beyond the immediate future" as the product of natural selection and akin to the myth of original sin. Introducing his thesis with a brief overview of evolution and the mechanisms of life, he looks at the unique conjunction of genetics and environmental conditions that favored the development and supremacy of the human species. Our unprecedented brain-power has given human beings the power to domesticate the planet, providing us with the food, fuel, and raw materials that supported massive population growth (now 6 billion and growing). Fortunately, as neurobiology shows, "our most decisive traits are epigenetic, the product of culture and education; our brains rewire as we mature and give us the ability to supersede the genetic imperative to reproduce at all cost. The necessary cultural shift, however, prioritizing protecting the environment over our own immediate desires, will require the simultaneous education of parents and children and thus, will be extremely difficult to accomplish. A provocative book by an elder statesman of science.
