h+ Magazine

H+: I might spend the whole day thinking about politics, economics — thinking about solutions to knotty human problems — and then I start thinking that a lot of this is hardwired. Maybe nothing really good is going to happen unless we change our wiring. Unless we actually technically evolve. Is that part of the intrigue with biotechnology?

DUNCAN: Yeah, it is. I actually agree with Gregory Stock on a lot of this. He just thinks this stuff is inevitable. We have the technology now to alter the germ line. Somebody’s going to do it somewhere. It’s more a matter of figuring out how to do it safely and manage it. So I would agree with the notion that we’re going to be manipulating evolution. It’s not even a question of if anymore; it’s a question of when and how.