[rating=10.00]
We live in a world of unprecedented technological change. Each day brings us closer to the realm of science fiction and year after year we make new breakthroughs that are, in all ways, paradigm shifting. While much of the focus of the wild and weird changes has been focused on computers and computer technology, biochemists have been quietly changing the world in raw, shattering ways.
Last year a team out of China announced the birth of a human whose DNA was edited using CRISPR technology. Most of us shrugged that off, having no idea what that meant beyond sweeping abstracts, dimly aware that it has something to do with gene manipulation. Even in terms of generalities, it’s stunning but it’s difficult to imagine how that might begin to affect us. Right?
Human Nature, a new documentary making its premiere at SXSW, sheds the brightest of spotlights on what CRISPR is and what it means for the future of humanity. It’s a stunning, eye popping film that should become required viewing for students and people of all ages. Never before has CRISPR been portrayed in a way that’s so fascinating and so easy to understand, allowing the layperson to finally understand the profound implications of this powerful new field.
Simply put, CRISPR is a sequence of genetic code found in certain organisms that allows their DNA to change and be changed. It is the key, biochemists say, to finally unlocking the cures for diseases like cancer, sickle cell anemia, and, perhaps, even AIDS. It also has the power to unlock the secrets of genetic manipulation and the ability to dictate our own evolution.
Director Adam Bolt, in his debut film, has crafted a meticulously researched, important work that finally brings the secrets of CRISPR to the layperson. It is as much a work of powerful journalism (owing, perhaps to executive producer Dan Rather’s involvement) as it is a work of science documentary filmmaking. Featuring interviews with leaders in the bio-research field, he tells the story of CRISPR and its implications in wider society.
Can we create humans immune to disease? To pain? Who lack the need for sleep? Who are genetically superior supermen? What becomes of humanity when humanity has the ability to write their own ticket? What are the ethical implications?
Bolt does a superb job at laying all of these questions out and answering them in ways that may or may not change anyone’s mind. And yet, they’re questions we’ll all have to grapple with because, it’s quite clear, this isn’t a genie going back into the bottle. Whether we like it or not, CRISPR will be changing not just the course of humanity but, potentially, humanity itself.
It’s a profound thought and Human Nature does a spectacular job at parsing through the information and implication of the science and its ethics. It is a must see work of documentary filmmaking that should change the nature of our conversations. Whether you fear the science or embrace it, Human Nature is stunning.
