A Crack In Creation: A Nobel Prize Winner's Insight into the Future of Genetic Engineering

by Jennifer A. Doudna

Scientists are viewed with increasing distrust by a public that is skeptical about their contributions to society—that is, skeptical about the power of science to describe and improve the world. When people refuse to acknowledge climate change, reject vaccination programs for children, or insist that genetically modified organisms are unfit for human consumption, it signals not only their ignorance about science, but also a breakdown in communication between scientists and the public. The same can be said of the protest movements against CRISPR that have already sprung up in France and Switzerland to decry the prospect of “GM babies.” Unless we can reach these people and others like them, such distrust will spread.