[PEN-L:31604] Morgan-ists Ride On

[Hari Kumar <hari.kumar@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Gene pioneer urges dream of human perfection
By CAROLYN ABRAHAM
>From Saturday's Globe and Mail
http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/front/RTGAM/20021026/wxwa=

ts1026/Front/homeBN/breakingnews

James D. Watson, the grand duke of DNA, described one of his greatest=20

fears yesterday to a packed auditorium: that society will be too=20
scared to use genetics to make people as perfect as they can be.

Dr. Watson is one of the founding fathers of modern genetics. He was=20
in Toronto for the respected Gairdner Foundation awards, which this=20
year honoured the scientists who unravelled the human genome. He said=20

the information will allow society to eradicate and prevent not only=20
diseases but any other traits that might be deemed undesirable.

"Going for perfection was something I always thought you should do,"=20
said the 74-year-old Dr. Watson, peppering his radical perspectives=20
with trademark humour. "You always want the perfect girl."

Would it be wonderful to turn the shy into extroverts? Calm down the=20
hotheaded? Turn cold fish into warm human beings? As Dr. Watson sees=20
it, the genetic revolution puts all these issues on the table.

"We'll be able to make correlations between genes and certain=20
professions, genes for the undertaker - they really don't cry very=20
much," he said, "or the sprinter.

"It will be an absolute flood that will start to explain=20
everything ... even the cold fish."

Dr. Watson was younger than many of the students who came to hear him=20

when, in 1953, he and Francis Crick discovered the molecular shape of=20

deoxyribonucleic acid, known for short as DNA, at the famed Cavendish=20

Laboratory at Cambridge University.=20

The double helix soon defined modern medicine, opened the field of=20
molecular biology and transformed criminal justice with DNA=20
fingerprinting that has convicted the guilty and exonerated the=20
innocent, and that remains one of Dr. Watson's greatest prides.

But those are the field's obvious merits. The gangly, white-haired=20
Dr. Watson, Nobel laureate, past Gairdner winner, author of seven=20
books and recipient of 32 honorary degrees, was not at the University=20

of Toronto's MacLeod Auditorium to rehash highlights or to reminisce.

He had come to talk about the future and the thorny issues facing=20
society now that it has the human-genome map, which contains the=20
precious instructions to build and operate us all: the fruit fly, the=20

family pet, and even, Aunt Mary.

Dr. Watson took aim at scientists for not openly discussing where=20
genetic progress may carry us.

"It's my impression that none of the genome-project leaders have=20
gotten up and said, 'What we are going to do with this information; I=20

think we should use it,'" he said. "Maybe they're afraid of offending=20

people."

Never veering from controversy, Dr. Watson believes that women and=20
their right to make reproductive choices could create the ideal=20
future, where prenatal genetic screening keeps the sick or=20
handicapped from ever being born and disease from being a serial=20
killer.

In an interview earlier in the week, Dr. Watson mused that hang-
gliding accidents might one day be the leading cause of death.

He is also a proponent of so-called human-germline engineering, in=20
which doctors could add or delete elements from egg and sperm cells=20
that will be passed down to future generations.

Perhaps adding genes that will turn slow learners into whiz kids, he=20
said, or those to prevent smokers from ever developing lung cancer,=20
or genes making people HIV-resistant, might be part of the future.

"But laws all over prevent DNA additives to the germlines," Dr.=20
Watson lamented. "I'm sort of distressed when people say enhancement=20
is bad -- the question, they wonder, is 'Who will we enhance?'"

Some of Dr. Watson's comments are unlikely to calm anyone with those=20
thoughts, particularly when it comes to people's appearance. The=20
Chicago-born scientist - a well-known admirer of attractive women (he=20

titled one of his books Genes, Girls and Gamow) who keeps a 2002=20
calendar of tennis bombshell Anna Kournikova in his New York office -=20

said nature can be cruel: "Who wants an ugly baby?"

Yet he admits people accuse him of wanting to use genetics "to=20
produce pretty babies or perfect people.

"What's wrong with that?" he countered. "It's as if there's something=20

wrong with enhancements."

Dr. Watson stressed his vision is not a bleak one. He too was haunted=20

by the world portrayed in the 1997 film Gattaca, where genetically=20
perfect members of an elite, conceived in labs, reign over the=20
genetically "invalid," created naturally and condemned to society's=20
lowest jobs.

The movie theme echoes concern that genetic enhancements will be=20
available only to the wealthy, widening the gap between haves and=20
have-nots. But Dr. Watson has more faith in the species: "Most humans=20

are programmed by their genes to have compassion for their fellow=20
man."

Dr. Watson's speech thrilled students in the audience: "It was the=20
best lecture of the series," Seema Nagaraj, a biomedical-engineering=20
student, said. "I appreciated his candour, that he was not afraid to=20
state his views."