Cracking the Code of Life

Fifty percent of the genes in the DNA of a banana are also found in us, and while it's mind-blowing and a little disturbing to think of a piece of fruit as kinfolk--no matter how shirttail--what's even more amazing is that with all our apparent diversity, each of us is still 99.9% genetically identical and we share common ancestors who roamed the African savannahs eons ago. In this highly entertaining and informative two-hour NOVA special with ABC Nightline correspondent Robert Krulwich, viewers learn about the Human Genome Project, which began in 1990 to sequence all three billion letters of our DNA. Halfway through the research, a businessman named J. Craig Venter tossed the genome world on its ear when he said his for-profit company Celera would be able to sequence them faster. And so the race began, and viewers are swept along here on an adventure every bit as gripping as a Harrison Ford thriller, eventually leading to the long-awaited global-headlines-making announcement in July 2000 that the first survey of the humane genome had been mapped. While this amazing feat promises to provide tools for predicting our susceptibility to cancer, arthritis, and a host of other disorders, DNA sequencing also raises some disturbing issues. Who owns this technology? What are the implications for individual privacy? Will parents of the future be able to control their children's genetic destiny? Can we resist the impulse to create a race of flawless humans? Although these are serious, complex questions, Cracking the Code of Life breaks the topic down into layperson's terms (and there were moments I actually laughed out loud at the humor). Much less expensive than the similarly themed Brave New World: Why Not Clone a Human? Ethical Challenges of Biotechnology (VL-9/01), this is highly recommended and an Editor's Choice. Aud: H, C, P. (J. Asala)