Masterminds: Genius, DNA, and the Quest to Rewrite Life

Masterminds: Genius, DNA, and the Quest to Rewrite Life
David Ewing Duncan

Combining myth, biography, and wit, this is a highly original depiction of cutting-edge science and its profound implications, told through the scientists who are rewriting life on earth.Throughout history, the scientists’ personalities have astonished us. From Galileo to Jonas Salk, they push and stretch society’s boundaries though their great leaps of imagination and originality, providing us with everything from the wheel to rocket ships and penicillin. Today's masterminds in biotechnology promise lifespans up to 400 years, cures for cancer, and an end to pollution. But they are also capable of causing social upheavals with Frankenstein-like nightmare creations, as well as bioweapons.Award-winning writer David Ewing Duncan has written a startling narrative about science and personality, delving into stem cells, cloning, bioengineering, and genetics by telling the stories of the characters at the fulcrum of the science. He uses a unique method of tying in age-old stories and myths – from Prometheus and Eve to Faustus and Frankenstein – to ask the question: can we trust these scientists?

DAVID EWING DUNCAN

Masterminds

GENIUS, DNA, AND THE QUEST TO REWRITE LIFE

DEDICATION (#ulink_667c9517-d440-54de-bb8f-8121578f69a2)

To my mother and father.

EPIGRAPH (#ulink_3c060591-13fe-5428-8fb7-5e2b3651ecb5)

I’ve had to face up to the

fact that most of our society

thinks of scientists as people

who are likely to do something

bad. Either bad to make

money for themselves, or

to cause trouble in the

Frankensteinian sense.

And the fact is, scientists

that I know are trying to do

good for people.

—Douglas Melton

Harvard embryologist

It is not possible to be a

scientist unless you believe

that the knowledge of

the world, and the power

that this gives, is a thing

which is of intrinsic value

to humanity, and that you

are using it to help in the

spread of knowledge, and

are willing to take the

consequences.

—Robert Oppenheimer

November 1945

CONTENTS

Cover (#ueb3d3cb2-46b6-5ad0-9d81-a7e151fbc894)

Title Page (#u3d2cd4fc-6cd5-5eb0-aeb1-cc9848064f7f)

Dedication (#u478534f5-ddba-556c-be0a-6a70eb50dcbe)

Epigraph (#u9064898a-6ab1-5f47-960a-2aa1838ac56c)

Prelude: The Geneticist Who Played Hoops with My DNA (#ue934411e-a02a-572a-98f1-f4ace3da88a5)

The Language of Biotech: A Genetic Primer (#uf0a8af88-6e7b-5683-be22-fb040004025b)

1. Prometheus • Douglas Melton (#u739b5154-da12-5d66-af09-1c6beba7052a)

2. Eve • Cynthia Kenyon (#uda52b3bc-9c48-5cd5-81ec-b41e12c1700b)

3. Paul • Francis Collins (#litres_trial_promo)

4. Faustus • Craig Venter (#litres_trial_promo)

5. Zeus • James Watson (#litres_trial_promo)

6. Puck • Sydney Brenner (#litres_trial_promo)

7. Moses • Paul Berg (#litres_trial_promo)

EPILOGUE: What If Frankenstein’s Monster Had Einstein’s Brain? (#litres_trial_promo)

Keep Reading (#litres_trial_promo)