EXTRA
Dr. Ben Hurlbut discusses Jiankui He, the scientist who created the first designer babies.

FULL EPISODE DESCRIPTION
Let’s start our journey into the genomic revolution where the documentary film, Make People Better left off. First, we will speak with Dr. Jiankui He (nicknamed “JK”), the Chinese scientist who secretly created the first designer babies, named Lulu and Nana. As a result of the controversy that followed, JK spent the next three years in prison. We also speak with Dr. Ben Hurlbut. Ben is an ethics expert from Arizona State University who has had many conversations with JK both before and after the experiment to create Lulu and Nana. We will dive deep into why JK did what he did, the top U.S. scientist and communist party officials who supported him, what happened to the twin girls Lulu and Nana, and what lies ahead for humanity now that this door to human enhancement has been opened.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST https://makepeoplebetterpodcast.buzzs...

This podcast is brought to you by the Random Good Foundation and was produced by Rhumbline

Learn more about the podcast at https://makepeoplebetterfilm.com/podcast

Join our live discussion on Clubhouse https://www.clubhouse.com/club/makep...

Add a video of your throughts on this episode to a community conversation on our Filmstacker Project https://app.filmstacker.com/events/ac...

Leave us a comment on social media
Twitter: https://twitter.com/makepeople_film?s...
LinkedIn:   / codeofthewild  
Facebook:   / makepeoplebetterfilm  
Instagram: https://instagram.com/makepeoplebette...

Episode Guests
J. Benjamin Hurlbut, PhD is Associate Professor in the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University. He studies the governance of biomedical research and innovation, examining the interplay of science and technology with democracy, religious and moral pluralism, and public reason.

Jiankui He is a Chinese researcher who created the first human genetically designed babies, the twin girls known by their pseudonyms, Lulu and Nana. The twins were enhanced to be immune to HIV, the virus that AIDS. He received widespread condemnation that resulted in Chinese authorities imprisoning him for three years.

Hosts
Cody Sheehy is a filmmaker and media creator who focuses on stories about science and the natural environment. He is the director of the Make People Better documentary. Samira Kiani, M.D., genetic engineer, science communicator, and producer of the film.

Credits
Written and Edited by Cody Sheehy
Produced by Samira Kiani
Impact Production by Megan Friend
Recorded by Cody Sheehy and Samira Kiani
Sound design and mixing by Kim Christensen
Music By Tyler Strictland
Marketing and Social Media by Megan Friend and Amna Dolphin
Social media consulting Marci Fiamengo
Supporting materials by Cody Sheehy
Social Media by Megan Friend, Amna Vegha, and Marci Fiamengo
Website by Craig Boesewetter
Executive Production by Randall Gebhardt and Christopher Gebhardt

Reference links for this episode
https://www.science.org/content/artic...

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2...

Topics
#truecrime #beauty #genetics #designerbabies #China#Jiankui #geneediting #bioethics #rice #stanford #DNA #biology #technology #science #society #makepeoplebetterfilm