Natural selection is about the survival of the fittest, but it is not perfect. How can we fix it?
Episode 7
"Crack The Code"
Synopsis
Our genome was inherited to us by our parents.
Hiding in it, there are thousands of possible tragedies ready to erupt, should chance stand against us, in the form of inherited genetic mutations.
On top of them, new spontaneous mutations can arise, in sperm cells and eggs, before fertilization. DNA mutation is the source of evolution, all of it, including its biggest mistakes.
But genes are just the coded instructions for life, decoding that information is the hard part.
How is the genetic code arranged and why?
Could there be other, smarter ways, of encoding and decoding information using biochemical tools?
If we can crack the code, can we also modify it?
The future holds the promise of genomic editing to triumph over evolution’s shortcomings, but the road ahead is full of obstacles
and complications.
Will we ever be in the position of creating and designing new genetic codes, completely different from those in existence today?
And if we do, will we still identify ourselves as humans?
