The Mutant Project: Inside the Global Race to Genetically Modify Humans
In November 2018, the world was stunned when Dr. Jiankui He announced the birth of Lulu and Nana, the first genetically modified babies. A year later, he was sentenced to prison—but his experiment had already ignited a worldwide race in gene editing.
In The Mutant Project: Inside the Global Race to Genetically Modify Humans, anthropologist Eben Kirksey takes us to the frontlines of CRISPR technology, human DNA manipulation, and genetic engineering, exploring the ethical dilemmas, social consequences, and human stories behind this groundbreaking science. Who gets access to these technologies? What happens when powerful tools like CRISPR gene-editing move from elite labs into local clinics? And how might they widen global inequalities in health, race, and economics?
Through interviews with scientists, entrepreneurs, doctors, patients, biohackers, and activists, Kirksey reveals competing visions of our genetic future—from Silicon Valley’s biotech optimism to grassroots demands for fairness, bioethics, and justice. His research highlights how genetic modification, biotechnology, and the innovation economyare reshaping the future of medicine, social policy, and even human identity.
