In a recent article from Nature Genetics_, scientists raise concerns over the social impacts of recent advances in genomics - i.e. the study of genomes, or in other words, the genetic material of an individual or species. In passages bringing to mind the dystopian sci-fi film Gattaca, they describe a near future in which one’s DNA could foretell one’s physical and intellectual abilities and near-perfect children be conceived in vitro.
Indeed, on the surface, it would appear reality is catching up with fiction. We now live in a world where it is now possible to look at the entire genome in a bid to identify the genetic causes of complex diseases. Recent research in genome-wide association studies (GWAS) claims to have pinned down the genetic variants responsible for developing diseases or traits such as drug addiction, antisocial behaviour or intellectual aptitudes.
However, these views are flawed because they are based on a series of errors and misunderstandings; we will now proceed to unpacking them.
