With CRISPR technology, our genetic code can be rewritten. Will we eradicate disease or create “superhumans”?

Will we “hack” our genetic code to consign disease to history? Or will we usher in the era of “designer babies” and take control of human evolution? The realities emerging from science fiction intertwine with the dark and bright possibilities of the future.

In this journey spanning from Carl Sagan to dystopian dreams, from genetics to philosophy, perhaps we must rethink the meaning of “being human.”

The great transformation we are on the verge of is expected to bring about changes far greater than the destructive revolution caused by the industrial revolution, which gave rise to steam engines, electricity, and millions of people displaced from their homes and jobs by machines. As Nikola Tesla once said, will we witness “horrors beyond our imagination, created by human hands,” or will we adapt to these changes and soon experience something far greater than the comfort, prosperity, and monumental leap forward that the Industrial Revolution or electricity brought to humanity?