Cloning, part three: Eve

Cloning, part three: Eve

The same winter that saw controversy over the BBC documentary on Crispian Hollis’s sect, another claim was foisted on the world by another sect, who…

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Cloning, part four: Our genomes, ourselves

Cloning, part four: Our genomes, ourselves

Let’s start with the worn chestnut of identity. Ethicist Robert Williamson has posited ‘that there is a personal right, ethically based, to individuality, autonomy, and…

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Cloning, part five: Eugenics

Cloning, part five: Eugenics

But in assessing the fear that cloning will lead to eugenics, note that human mate choice is already eugenic. Lest you doubt, take an extreme…

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Cloning, part six: Poverty and exploitation

Cloning, part six: Poverty and exploitation

Reproductive cloning seems unlikely to spread quickly, of course. Costly services serve mainly rich folks, after all — and rich folks are rare (plus, sex…

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Yurt Life

Yurt Life

Yurt residents, Son-köl, Kyrgyzstan (image copyright Nathaniel Pearson) On the map, Son-köl is just a blue blot in the rugged contours of central Kyrgyzstan. But…

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How to Find Poetry in Shiraz

How to Find Poetry in Shiraz

Schoolgirls at the tomb of Sa’di, Shiraz, Iran (image copyright Nathaniel Pearson) Just before it happens I’m on a gritty street, where the bazaar’s damp…

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St. Louis to Samarkand — A Tale of Two Chromosomes

St. Louis to Samarkand — A Tale of Two Chromosomes

In fabled Samarkand I met my match. Don’t worry, nobody got hurt — it turns out we’re family. Let me explain. In 1996, Spencer Wells…

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Ethics in Genome Diversity Fieldwork

Ethics in Genome Diversity Fieldwork

In moving from lab to field, human geneticists can, one hopes, seed important understanding among layfolk. But research-associated ethical questions become more urgent and complicated…

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Human genetic fieldwork in Iran

Human genetic fieldwork in Iran

Rockface tombs, near Takht-e Jamshid (image copyright Nathaniel Pearson) The Eurasia ’98 sampling expedition collected about 120 DNA samples from residents of three major Iranian…

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