When I first heard about mapping the human genome, I must admit I felt a bit concerned. True, I was intrigued by the possibility of our decoding humanity and understanding at the deepest level how we were put together, but the much-touted image of scientists programming the genome to produce humanity in vats a la Brave New World certainly made me a little concerned. I began to wonder how much knowledge was too much, and if we as a people were actually ready for this kind of information.

Fortunately, I was a dumb ass. Our mapping of the human genome didn’t trigger the mass of chaos I had been worried about any more than the calendar year 2000 triggered the end of the world. What we ultimately learned from the genome is that it’s really bloody complicated, and the biggest lesson we’ve learned is that all of our traits are triggered through the combined functions of many genes working in harmony.

This morning, I read an article on Pharyngula talking about an interview by Spiegel with Craig Venter entitled We Have Learned Nothing From The Genome. Like PZ Myers, the more I have learned about Venter as a person and a scientist, the more I have found him to be an entirely interesting individual. His original TED Talk was fascinating, and he comes across as a man who understands both the importance and non-importance of the genome.

This ties in with PZ’s article that I commented on last Monday explaining that evolution isn’t just single changes slowly impacting the species, but a complicated network of genetic variances. Read the interview, I’m sure you’ll find it fascinating.

Jim