Events

On the evolution of man

Francisco J. Ayala, Professor of Biological Sciences, University of California, Irvine. U.S. National Medal of Science in 2001.

On 10 November 2011, the Rafael del Pino Foundation, in collaboration with the Lilly Foundation, hosted the dialogue "On the evolution of mankind", which was held at the Rafael del Pino Foundation. Francisco J. Ayala with Fernando Baquero, Juan José López-Ibor, Camilo José Cela y Manuel Martín Loeches.

According to Francisco J. AyalaOne of the current challenges in genetics is to be able to modify the genes of germ cells, i.e. eggs and sperm, in order to prevent the transmission of diseases from parents to children: "We currently know how the expression of human genes is regulated and it is already possible to use genetics to cure many diseases, and will be even more so in the future, but we still do not know how to intervene on the genes of germ cells". This is one of the reasons, he says, "[...] why embryonic stem cell research is expanding; to learn how cells differentiate to form one tissue or another or regenerate. In his opinion, the rapid advance of genetics will largely make the 21st century the century of biology.

Regarding the purpose of genetic research, Francisco Ayala clearly differentiated between "curing genes" and "improving genes" and opposes the latter objective, warning that "the harms can be much greater than the benefits". According to Professor Ayala, "it is culture that determines what is good or bad". Morality is a human characteristic linked to intelligence, "far superior to that of any other animal being, because we are able to anticipate the consequences of our actions".

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