CRISPR-Cas9 is by all accounts a significant breakthrough - the first viable genome editing technology. It has opened quite the can of worms, in fields of biology, futurology, sociology, politics and ethics alike. Genetically modifying plants is controversial enough - editing human beings is going to be a rough debate.
Vanessa Hill (from the YouTube channel Braincraft) sets out to find some answers. It's a brilliant documentary - very accessible, but at the same time comprehensive. There's no filler or fluff here - it's all told in a breezy 37 minutes. It remains a complex issue, but Mutant Menu covers as much ground as is possible in under 40 minutes. Most importantly, it's completely respectful of the audience's intelligence - there's no propaganda here. You make up your own mind.
Vanessa travels all over the world, gathering opinion from regular people, fellow YouTubers, eminent scientists in the field, bioethicists, pharmaceutical people, and many surprises! There's quite a diverse group of people interviewed here, from all walks of life. These opinion are interspersed with the animations and direct-to-camera bytes, all peer-reviewed state of the science, of course.
Best of all, the full documentary is available free to everyone on YouTube, thanks to PBS Digital Studios! Which, by the way, Trump and his henchmen are trying their hardest to kill.
