GATTACA HAS FALLEN

Myles questions contemporary society’s preoccupation with population genetics.

Since scientists first sequenced the human genome two decades ago, there has been an “obsessive search for genetic explanation” for diseases, traits, and innate behavioral abilities, writes the author. A medical doctor and clinical researcher with The National Institutes of Health, Myles notes that, despite the revolutionary promises of genetic research, Americans today are even more unhealthy than they were before the completion of the genome project, citing record-high rates of food allergies, asthma, and diseases involving the immune system. Challenging the work of Richard Dawkins (The Selfish Gene, 1976) and Kathryn Paige Harden (The Genetic Lottery, 2021), this book argues that far too much weight has been placed on “genetic determinism.” While offering clear rebuttals to right-wing attempts to utilize debunked IQ science for racist purposes, the book focuses on the author’s own research on eczema, positing that an emphasis on genetic determinism among those researching allergies and rheumatology is “doing active harm to medicine and society.” Population genetics also distracts from what Myles believes are far more pressing issues, such as disease prevention and environmental concerns. “Genetic fanfare stole our collective focus,” he writes, as we have “stripped the key nutrients from our food” and “swaddled our children in baby blankets made from the chemicals found in car exhaust.” Acknowledging that his colleagues at the NIH may not agree with his skepticism regarding genetics, the author offers a nuanced, convincingly substantiated counternarrative from the vantage of an expert in his field. While the book’s almost 500 pages offer fellow researchers ample material for scholarly discussion, Myles balances its academic methodology with an engaging, jargon-free writing style. Bolstering this accessibility is the inclusion of multiple full-color images, charts, and diagrams. While appealing to lay readers with pop culture references generally works for the book’s narrative, it perhaps gives the 1997 SF thriller Gattaca an undue amount of attention (including referencing the film in its title).

A well-argued, approachable challenge to society’s preoccupation with the potential of genetic science.