Should we intervene in evolution? The ethics of ‘editing’ nature
Why Read This
What Makes This Article Worth Your Time
Summary
What This Article Is About
David Farrier examines the profound ethical questions surrounding assisted evolution—the use of CRISPR gene-editing technology to deliberately alter species’ DNA to help them survive human-induced environmental change. He explores how humanity has become the planet’s greatest evolutionary force, confronting nearly 50,000 species at risk of extinction with a radical choice: should we intervene in their evolution to save them, or does such intervention constitute an unacceptable form of “playing God”?
Through examples ranging from heat-resistant coral breeding on the Great Barrier Reef to controversial synthetic gene drives proposed for eliminating invasive species in New Zealand, Farrier illuminates both the tremendous promise and profound risks of evolutionary intervention. He grounds his analysis in Māori conservation principles like whakapapa (genealogical relationship) and kaitiakitanga (guardianship), arguing that Indigenous wisdom offers vital guidance: we should only edit species if doing so enhances rather than diminishes the web of ecological relationships connecting all life.
Key Points
Main Takeaways
Humanity as Evolutionary Force
Climate change has transformed humans into the planet’s dominant evolutionary driver, forcing species to adapt at unprecedented speeds.
CRISPR Opens New Possibilities
Precision gene-editing technology enables targeted interventions, from heat-resistant coral to disease-immune wildlife populations.
Gene Drives Possess Godlike Power
Synthetic gene drives can reshape entire populations within generations, functioning as potential extinction engines or salvation technologies.
Indigenous Wisdom as Ethical Guide
Māori principles of whakapapa and kaitiakitanga offer frameworks for evaluating whether genetic interventions enhance or diminish ecological relationships.
Coral as Urgent Test Case
Tropical coral reefs face collapse from marine heatwaves, making them prime candidates for assisted evolution through selective breeding.
Relationship Over Control
The key ethical question isn’t whether we can edit nature, but whether interventions strengthen our participation in the web of life.
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Article Analysis
Breaking Down the Elements
Main Idea
Evolutionary Intervention as Ethical Imperative
The article argues that given humanity’s role as the planet’s dominant evolutionary force and the accelerating extinction crisis, we face a moral obligation to consider deliberately intervening in species’ evolution through gene-editing technologies—but only if guided by principles that enhance rather than diminish ecological relationships, drawing particularly on Indigenous frameworks like Māori concepts of whakapapa.
Purpose
To Reframe Gene Editing Through Relationship
Farrier seeks to shift the conversation about assisted evolution away from binary questions of technological capability or “playing God” toward a more nuanced ethical framework grounded in ecological relationships and Indigenous wisdom. He advocates for seeing genetic intervention not as domination but as an expression of our responsibility as participants in—not masters of—the living world.
Structure
Historical Framing → Technical Exposition → Ethical Resolution
The essay opens with the 40,000-year-old Lion-Man figurine to establish humanity’s ancient impulse to imagine hybrid forms, then transitions to contemporary examples of assisted evolution (coral breeding, gene drives in New Zealand), building technical understanding before culminating in Māori philosophical principles that offer ethical criteria for deciding when and how to intervene in evolution.
Tone
Contemplative, Measured & Culturally Attentive
Farrier maintains a thoughtful, exploratory tone that acknowledges the complexity and stakes of evolutionary intervention without resorting to alarmism or techno-utopianism. He demonstrates deep respect for Indigenous knowledge systems, allowing Māori voices substantial space to articulate their own perspectives rather than appropriating or simplifying their concepts.
Key Terms
Vocabulary from the Article
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Tough Words
Challenging Vocabulary
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Relating to the highest heaven or celestial sphere; sublime, godlike, or supremely elevated in nature or power.
“But what if there was a truly empyrean technology—one that, effectively, could remake entire ecosystems with a single gesture?”
A Māori concept meaning genealogy or taxonomy based on relationships rather than genetics, connecting living things according to shared ecological roles.
“Whakapapa describes a family line, stretching back to creation, but that also includes the rivers and mountains an individual lives among.”
Capable of being passed from parent to offspring through genetic material; traits or characteristics that can be inherited biologically.
“Gene drives are elements in a genome whose heritable potential is enhanced.”
An extended urban area consisting of several towns or cities that have merged together, forming one continuous built environment.
“Polyps, tiny soft-bodied creatures whose calcium carbonate secretions build vast reef conurbations…”
Māori knowledge system encompassing traditional wisdom, values, and understanding shaped by generations of relationship with the New Zealand ecosystem.
“Māori worldview rests on mātauranga, an intricate system of knowledge and values contoured to the ecosystem of Aotearoa/New Zealand.”
In a manner that cannot be brought into harmony or agreement; describing differences so fundamental they cannot be resolved.
“Or you might put together two organisms that, to Western science, would seem irreconcilably different.”
Reading Comprehension
Test Your Understanding
5 questions covering different RC question types
1According to the article, the Lion-Man figurine represents humanity’s first attempt at actual genetic modification of animals.
2What is the primary function of zooxanthellae in coral ecosystems?
3Which sentence best captures Kevin Esvelt’s realization about the ethical responsibility accompanying gene drive technology?
4Evaluate these statements about the Māori approach to gene editing and conservation:
Whakapapa groups organisms based on ecological relationships rather than genetic similarities.
All Māori iwis hold identical views on whether gene editing technologies should be used in New Zealand.
Traditional Māori knowledge about the relationship between kauri trees and whales led to a successful treatment for kauri dieback disease.
Select True or False for all three statements, then click “Check Answers”
5Based on Farrier’s argument, which genetic intervention would he most likely support?
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Assisted evolution involves human intervention to accelerate or guide evolutionary processes that would occur too slowly to help species survive rapid environmental change. As described by Madeleine van Oppen and Ruth Gates, it includes techniques like selective breeding for heat resistance, transplanting heat-tolerant organisms to struggling populations, and potentially gene editing. Unlike natural evolution, which operates through random mutation and natural selection over many generations, assisted evolution deliberately promotes specific adaptive traits to help species ‘get over the hurdle’ of climate change.
Gene drives are DNA sequences that ensure their own inheritance in more than the typical 50% of offspring, effectively spreading engineered traits through entire populations within generations. Kevin Esvelt’s synthetic gene drives enhance this natural bias, creating what the article calls an ’empyrean technology’ that could remake ecosystems with a single gesture. They’re powerful because they could spread immunity, disease resistance, or even sterility through invasive species populations. They’re dangerous because they could become ‘extinction engines,’ giving whoever wields them power of life or death over entire species, and once released, might be difficult to control.
Whakapapa is a Māori concept meaning genealogy or taxonomy based on relationships rather than genetic similarity. Unlike Western classification systems that group organisms by physiological commonalities, whakapapa connects living things—including rivers and mountains—according to shared ecological roles and relationships. Applied to gene editing, whakapapa suggests we should evaluate interventions by asking whether they enhance or diminish the web of relationships connecting species to their environment and to each other. This principle helped Māori understand the relationship between kauri trees and whales, leading to treatments for tree disease, and offers an ethical framework centered on sustaining connection rather than exercising control.
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This article is rated Advanced due to its sophisticated vocabulary (including terms like zooxanthellae, mātauranga, empyrean, and kaitiakitanga), complex sentence structures, and nuanced argumentation that requires synthesizing scientific concepts with ethical philosophy and Indigenous knowledge systems. The essay demands readers track multiple case studies—from coral bleaching to gene drives to kauri tree healing—while understanding how each illuminates different facets of the central ethical question about evolutionary intervention. Advanced readers must also navigate the tension between technical explanations of CRISPR and gene drives alongside abstract philosophical concepts about human responsibility and ecological relationships.
Farrier uses the Lion-Man to establish that imagining forms beyond nature is a deeply ancient human impulse, not a recent aberration enabled by modern technology. By showing that our species has spent millennia thinking beyond natural boundaries—from cave carvings to Greek mythology to Yeats’s poetry—he contextualizes contemporary gene editing as the latest expression of this enduring desire to transcend nature. The historical framing also sets up his conclusion that ‘to reimagine other beings is to also reimagine ourselves,’ suggesting that how we approach genetic intervention will define what it means to be human in an age of unprecedented technological power.
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