The Gene: An Intimate History
2020 · PBS · 120 min · 1 season
S01E02 · Part 2: Revolution in the Treatment of Disease
Wed, 15 Apr, 10:00 am
Part Two begins with the story of the signature scientific achievement of our time: the mapping of the human genome. As scientists learn to read the genetic code, they grapple with the dangers inherent in increasingly sophisticated and easily available methods of intervening in the very essence of what makes us human, our DNA.
About
The Gene: An Intimate History brings vividly to life the story of today's revolution in medical science through present-day tales of patients and doctors at the forefront of the search for genetic treatments, interwoven with a compelling history of the discoveries that made this possible and the ethical challenges raised by the ability to edit DNA with precision.
Episodes
- E01
Part 1: Dawn of the Modern Age of Genetics
Wed, 8 Apr· 120 minPart One interweaves the present-day story of the Rosens, a young family on an odyssey to find a cure for their four-year-old daughter's rare genetic disease, with stories of the exciting discoveries of the early pioneers in genetics — Gregor Mendel, Thomas Hunt Morgan, Francis Crick, and James Watson. This episode also tracks the dark period in human history when a little genetic knowledge was used to justify terrifying human experiments that culminated in the Holocaust.
- E02
Part 2: Revolution in the Treatment of Disease
Wed, 15 Apr· 120 minPart Two begins with the story of the signature scientific achievement of our time: the mapping of the human genome. As scientists learn to read the genetic code, they grapple with the dangers inherent in increasingly sophisticated and easily available methods of intervening in the very essence of what makes us human, our DNA.
Cast
David Costabile
Narrator