Juan Enriquez and Steve Gullans
Current, March 2015
Evolution is too often referred to in the past tense. Author Juan Enriquez and erstwhile Harvard researcher Steve Gullans remind us, in Evolving Ourselves, that not only is evolution still churning away today, but humans have become major forces in the process by dint of our massive impact on the rest of the biosphere and on our own health and longevity. By diagnosing and accommodating individuals with severe food allergies, for example, we’ve enshrined a trait that was often fatal—and, therefore, rare—a mere three centuries ago.
Rather than bemoaning humanity’s impact on natural selection, Enriquez and Gullans celebrate the potential to further alter our evolutionary course utilizing the modern marvels of biotechnology. Not coincidentally, the authors are also cofounders of Excel Venture Management, which invests in start-ups specializing in synthetic biology, big data, and new genetic technologies. Life’s future is now firmly ...
