Gene Watson at Irving Arts Center Irving Tx November 10 2018 Irving Arts Center November 10

—Documentary Series Unravels History of the Human Genome and Explores the Ethical Implications of Groundbreaking Developments in Genetics—

Ken Burns presents THE GENE: AN INTIMATE HISTORY, a two-function, 4-hour documentary based on Pulitzer Prize-winning author Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee'south book of the aforementioned name, will premiere on Tuesdays, April 7 and 14, 2020 from viii-ten p.m. and on the PBS Video App.

The film airs at a critical moment for the scientific community, as geneticists around the world wrestle with the upstanding implications of new technologies that offer both hope and peril.

THE GENE weaves together science, history and personal stories for a historical biography of the human genome, while also exploring breakthroughs for diagnosis and treatment of genetic diseases — and the circuitous ethical questions they heighten.

Groundbreaking treatments volition improve the lives of millions of people — potentially treating diseases similar sickle cell — but in that location are worries that scientists will take factor-editing engineering science too far, using it to modify germline Dna in order to enhance certain traits deemed "preferable."

As THE GENE demonstrates, those fears have already been realized: in Nov 2018, Chinese researcher He Jiankui stunned and horrified the scientific community with an announcement: he had created the first genetically edited babies, twin girls born in China — a medically unnecessary procedure achieved well before scientists had fully considered the consequences of altering the human genome.

"These revolutionary discoveries highlight the awesome responsibility we have to brand wise decisions, not but for people alive today, but for generations to come up," said Dr. Mukherjee, assistant professor of medicine at the Department of Medicine (Oncology), Columbia University and staff cancer physician at Columbia Academy Irving Medical Center. "At this pivotal moment when scientists find themselves in a new era in which they're able to command and modify the human genome, THE GENE offers a nuanced understanding of how nosotros arrived at this point and how genetics will continue to influence our fates."

Courtesy of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

David Botstein, the father of gene mapping, and Paul Berg, the begetter of recombinant Deoxyribonucleic acid, address an audience at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory at a 1986 symposium on sequencing human Deoxyribonucleic acid.

The documentary includes interviews with pioneers in the field — including doctors Paul Berg, Francis Collins, Jennifer Doudna, Shirley Tilghman, James Watson, Nancy Wexler and Mukherjee himself.

Courtesy of Nancy Wexler Annal

Anne Young and others on Nancy'southward Wexler's team draw blood from a young homo in Venezuela. Wexler and her colleagues nerveless blood and skin samples in an try to locate the gene responsible for Huntington's disease. The affliction marker was discovered in 1983 only a few years after their search began, just the actual responsible gene wouldn't be identified until 1993.

As with Burns'due south other projects, THE Gene uses a remarkable trove of historical footage, including Rosalind Franklin's "Photograph 51" from 1952, to track the journey of human genetics.

Courtesy of Archives, California Establish of Technology

Calvin Bridges, Alfred Sturtevant, and O.Fifty. Mohr worked with Thomas Chase Morgan on his drosophila experiments at Columbia Academy. (undated photo)

Start with the remarkable achievements of the primeval factor hunters and their attempts to understand the nature of heredity, the film traces the history of genetics from Gregor Mendel'south pea plant studies in the 19th Century and Watson'southward and Crick's discovery in 1953 of the structure of Deoxyribonucleic acid, to the efforts past Sydney Brenner and Marshall Nirenberg, amid others, to understand how the genetic code is translated in human cells.

Courtesy of Moravian Museum - the Mendelianum Archive

A portrait of Gregor Mendel, a friar at the St. Thomas Monastery in Brno, Moravia. Mendel was recognized after his death every bit the father of modern genetic science.

We too witness the massive technological transformation from the 1970s through the 2000s from the sequencing of individual genes by Fred Sanger to the sequencing of the whole human genome.

Every bit THE GENE introduces u.s. to the scientists solving these great mysteries, the picture likewise examines the insidious ascension of eugenics, which diameter horrific results in the United states of america, Europe and, in particular, in Nazi Germany.

THE GENE juxtaposes this dynamic history with compelling, emotional stories of contemporary patients and their families who observe themselves in a desperate race against time to notice cures for their genetic diseases.

The film follows the inspiring, heart-wrenching journeys of people such equally Audrey Winkelsas, a young scientist born with Spinal Muscular Atrophy researching a handling for her own status, and Luke Rosen and Emerge Jackson, parents on a tireless quest to heighten awareness for their daughter'due south rare degenerative disease.

Hopes ascension and fall with new discoveries and setbacks, revealing how intimate and profoundly personal this scientific discipline can be for families affected by genetic diseases.

As it traces groundbreaking developments in genetics that promise to revolutionize life for millions of people, THE Factor besides documents the thorny upstanding questions some of these new treatments raise.

Today, geneticists find themselves on the brink of curing diseases long thought fatal — but given the harrowing history of eugenics, both the scientific community and the public are forced to grapple with the upstanding implications of these new technologies.

Are there unintended consequences to irresolute homo genomes? Could changes accidentally unleash cancer or some novel new genetic disease? From the prospect of genetic therapies to CRISPR, the film explores the complex web of moral, upstanding and scientific questions facing this generation.

Courtesy of Getty Images

Craig Venter, an iconoclastic geneticist and businessman, founded Celera Genomics and announced that he could sequence the homo genome faster than the publicly-funded Man Genome Project could.

Filmmaker Quotes:

"THE GENE explores the ultimate mystery story — it unpacks the once-impenetrable science of what makes u.s. who we are," southaid senior producer Barak Goodman. "This is a moment for the general public and the scientific community to engage in a national conversation near the thrilling future of genetics and the ethical challenges posed by new scientific discipline."

"We want people to leave our film feeling both hopeful about these stunning developments and sensitive to the ethical questions facing the field," said directors Chris Durrance and Jack Youngelson.

"I was thrilled to reunite with Sid and Barak on this project," said Ken Burns. "For me, science, like history, is the exploration of what has come before and the hope of the future. THE Gene untangles the code of life itself."

The Gene Explained Serial:

In conjunction with the broadcast, WETA is developing an expansive interactive website and social and digital media components, including a multi-media educational initiative designed to engage teachers and students through multiple platforms. including a six-part animated series, that delves into the complexities of genetics. Using mixed illustration styles, each episode will focus on a particular approach to genetics, including "How Things Work," "When Deoxyribonucleic acid Goes Sideways," "The Futurity of Deoxyribonucleic acid," and more.

EPISODE GUIDE:

Episode 1 airs Tuesday, April 7 at 8 p.m. on KPBS Goggle box + Friday, April ten at 4 p.m., Saturday, April eleven at Apex and Thursday, Apr 16 at 8 p.m. on KPBS 2 - A fascinating history of the homo genome weaves together science and personal stories. Patients with rare genetic diseases and their doctors seek to discover cures, often in a race against time

Episode two arrogance Tuesday, April 14 at viii p.grand. on KPBS TV + Fri, April 17 at 4 p.m., Sabbatum, April 18 at Noon and Thursday, Apr 23 at 8 p.thou. on KPBS 2 - Geneticists wrestle with the moral implications of groundbreaking new technologies that offer both hope and peril. Audrey, a adamant immature scientist with Spinal Muscular Atrophy, researches a handling for her ain status.

WATCH ON YOUR SCHEDULE:

With the PBS Video App, you can stream your favorite and local station shows. Download it for costless on your favorite device. The app allows you to grab up on recent episodes and discover laurels-winning shows.

Episodes will go available for viewing on demand for a limited fourth dimension after each circulate. Extend your viewing window with KPBS Passport, video streaming for members supporting KPBS at $60 or more than yearly, using your computer, smartphone, tablet, Roku, AppleTV, Amazon Burn or Chromecast. Learn how to activate your benefit at present.

JOIN THE Chat:

Ken Burns is on Facebook, and yous tin can follow @KenBurns on Twitter. #TheGenePBS

CREDITS:

The series is directed by Chris Durrance and Jack Youngelson, with award-winning filmmaker Barak Goodman serving as senior producer and Ken Burns as executive producing alongside Dr. Mukherjee. THE GENE has largely the same production squad as "Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies," which premiered on PBS in 2015 and was the Emmy Honour-nominated adaptation of Mukherjee's 2010 book, "The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer." A production of Florentine Films and WETA Washington, D.C., in clan with Ark Media. Executive Producer and Senior Creative Consultant: Ken Burns. Written by Geoffrey C. Ward; and Barak Goodman & David Blistein. Narrator: David Costabile. Senior Producer: Barak Goodman. Directors: Chris Durrance and Jack Youngelson. Executive Producers: Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee, Dalton Delan, Tom Chiodo, John F. Wilson and Anne Harrington.

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Source: https://www.kpbs.org/news/arts-culture/2020/04/06/gene-intimate-history

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