PBS - DNA (2003) Part 5 The Future

A half-century ago, two unknown scientists heralded the dawning of a new era in biology and human life as they entered an English pub! Of course, Jim Watson and Francis Crick were hardly exaggerating. Their achievements almost single-handedly launched the new science of DNA. Interviews with renowned scientists and stunningly realized animations and reconstructions of key experiments offer an unprecedented glimpse of the molecular basis of life.

Part 5 The Future

In the final programme, James Watson gives a tour of the future of DNA science. He believes it should be used to change the human race. His views are both extraordinary and extremely controversial. Watson argues for a new kind of eugenics - where parents are allowed to choose the DNA of their children - to make them healthier, more intelligent, even better looking. This film is his journey through the subject, from a gas chamber in Germany where the mentally ill were murdered by the Nazis to labs today where scientists have found ways to create new strands of DNA. In the program, Dr. Kay Jamison, a renowned neuroscientist who is manic depressive, and the parents of a child with Down's Syndrome make a case for the value of differences among people in society.

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