Groundbreaking treatments will improve the lives of millions of people — potentially treating diseases like sickle cell — but there are worries that scientists will take gene-editing technology too far, using it to modify germline DNA in order to enhance certain traits deemed “preferable.” As THE GENE demonstrates, those fears have already been realized: in November 2018, Chinese researcher He Jiankui stunned and horrified the scientific community with an announcement: he had created the first genetically edited babies, twin girls born in China — a medically unnecessary procedure accomplished well before scientists had fully considered the consequences of altering the human genome.

“These revolutionary discoveries highlight the awesome responsibility we have to make wise decisions, not just for people alive today, but for generations to come,” says Dr. Mukherjee. “At this pivotal moment when scientists find themselves in a new era in which they’re able to control and change the human genome, THE GENE offers a nuanced understanding of how we arrived at this point and how genetics will continue to influence our fates.”

Co-executive produced by filmmaker Ken Burns, the two-part, four hour documentary weaves together science, history and personal stories for a historical biography of the human genome. THE GENE includes interviews with pioneers in the field along with compelling, emotional stories of contemporary patients and their families who find themselves in a desperate race against time to find cures for their genetic diseases, while documenting the thorny ethical questions some of these new treatments raise.

Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee is assistant professor of medicine at the Department of Medicine (Oncology), Columbia University and staff cancer physician at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. He’s also the Pulitzer Prize winning author of Emperor of All Maladies, the definitive work on the history and science of cancer.

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