Evolving Ourselves: How Unnatural Selection and Nonrandom Mutation are Changing Life on Earth PDF
Preview Evolving Ourselves: How Unnatural Selection and Nonrandom Mutation are Changing Life on Earth
ADVANCE PRAISE FOR Evolving Ourselves “This book provokes terror and inspiration in equal measure. Terror because humankind has become a potent evolutionary force affecting all life on the planet, including itself. Inspiration because with awareness comes the capacity to direct humanity’s—and the planet’s—evolutionary trajectory. Read this book and you will never think the same way about evolution ever again.” —Paul Saffo, technology forecaster “Juan Enriquez and Steve Gullans convincingly argue that Darwin’s driving force, natural selection, no longer holds true in a world where little remains natural and free of the hand of man. Their book raises important questions that we all should consider deeply as individuals, as nations, and as a global community as we venture forth into this next phase of evolution.” —Donald Ingber, M.D., Ph.D.; founding director, Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University “Science continues to accelerate, speeding past science fiction, and the public’s understanding continues to lag. In Evolving Ourselves, Enriquez and Gullans give us a whiplash-worthy account of the state of science in a fearless, balanced, and thoughtful way. A must-read whether you’re contemplating why we’re here, planning the future of your company, or wondering what your children’s world will be like.” —Joichi Ito, director, MIT Media Lab “Thoughtful and thought-provoking, Evolving Ourselves is rich in the fascinating details of how we work, how we got there, and how we are changing. Enriquez and Gullans take us down a path of observations and logic that leads to either your grandest hopes or your darkest nightmares. Fasten your seat belts— this rocket is about to take off.” —Martin Blaser, author of Missing Microbes “Enriquez and Gullans take off all the blinders and explore the myriad, astounding ways we humans are rapidly influencing and shaping, both intentionally and not, our future selves. With mounting knowledge of what makes our species tick, they describe how we’ll have the power to direct our evolutionary path.” —Linda Avey, cofounder, 23andMe “A provocative and sobering vision of the evolutionary forces at work in our modern post-Darwin world and the control that we humans exert over our genetic destinies. Essential reading for anyone who retains hope that humanity, through sheer application of ingenuity, will persevere, survive, and surmount the inestimable challenges that lie ahead.” —George Daley, M.D., Ph.D.; professor, Harvard Medical School “Timely and exceptionally rich, this book is guaranteed to stimulate reflection on what the new biology means for our species.” —Dr. Erling Norrby, former permanent secretary, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences “Enriquez and Gullans brilliantly describe a future of extreme possibility and extreme responsibility. Thinking deeply about the implications of their work improves our chances of creating a desirable version of that future.” —Tim Brown, CEO, IDEO; author of Change by Design “In a rapidly changing world, considerations of human evolution are rarely taken into account as a critical factor that shapes the immediate future, but Enriquez and Gullans will convince you otherwise. They will make you rethink what constitutes a victory (antibiotics! air travel!) over our natural biological constraints and its unintended consequences.” —Hidde Ploegh, professor of biology, MIT; member, Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research Published by the Penguin Group Penguin Group (USA) LLC 375 Hudson Street New York, New York 10014 USA | Canada | UK | Ireland | Australia | New Zealand | India | South Africa | China penguin.com A Penguin Random House Company First published by Current, a member of Penguin Group (USA) LLC, 2015 Copyright © 2015 by Juan Enriquez and Steven Gullans Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader. ISBN 978-0-69817498-6 Version_1 Mary and Stenie, Diana and Nico, Graham, Emilie, Alexei, and Esme, Our enduring love and extreme gratitude CONTENTS Advanced Praise for Evolving Ourselves Title Page Copyright Dedication What Would Darwin Write Today? SYMPTOMS OF REAL-TIME EVOLUTION Is Autism a Harbinger of Our Changing Brains? The DarWa Theory Revisited . . . and a Glimpse at a New Theory Twenty Generations to Domesticate Humans Violence and the Lack Thereof Allergies: Another Harbinger of Our Evolving Bodies? Our Unnatural “All-Natural” World Fat Humans, Fat Animals: Another Symptom? Brave New Sex HOW DOES EVOLUTION REALLY WORK NOW? The Nature Versus Nurture Wars Missing Heredity, Mysterious Toxins Transgenerational Inheritance––aka “Voodoo Biology” WWIV: Nuking Our Microbes The “Yucky” Stuff Inside You Autism Revisited: Three Potential Drivers Viruses: The Roadrunners of Evolution A Perfectly Modern Pregnancy Bringing It All Together––DESTINY Is Propelling Evolution A WORLD OF NONRANDOM MUTATION Playing with the Building Blocks of Life Humans Hijacking Viruses Editing Life on a Grand Scale Unnatural Acts, Designer Babies, and Sex 2.0 Boyden Brains EVOLVING OURSELVES . . . Better Living Through Chemistry? Forever Young, Beautiful, and Fearless? Unnatural Attraction Sports Quandaries and Beyond . . . Designer Organs and Cloned Humans Evolving Brains Revisited The Robot-Computer-Human Interface Perhaps an Ethical Question or Two? Technically Life, Technically Death Trust Whom? THE FUTURE OF LIFE I Don’t Remember You . . . De-Extinction Humanity’s Really Short Story Evolving Hominins . . . Synthetic Life Humans and Hubris: Does Nature Win in the End? Leaving Earth? EPILOGUE New Evolutionary Trees Acknowledgments Appendix: Darwin––True or False: Did He Get It Right? Glossary Notes Index
Description:The list of books you might like
