Powerful article. While the ethical implications are implied, surely there are ethicists out there willing to take this on in order to provide balance to provide better balance and context. As written, it appears the foxes are guarding the hen house, which I find frightening.

A fascinating, well written story which goes beyond Darwin and should become part of every high school science curriculum. Ironically, at the same time articles like this are taking evolution into the 21st century, groups of Americans are seriously attempting to replace a large body of scientific research and data with faith-based “Creationism”.

I am the CEO of a company in biotech. This is a great article!! It really opened my eyes to some things I didn't know that are very timely. I forwarded the link to some of my colleagues almost embarrassed that I was forwarding them something "scientific" from the New Yorker...but in this day and age you can't be too choosy where you find really good journalism. I was amazed to see it on the NewsTrust site after just discovering it yesterday in print.

Excellent article tells how “If Charles Darwin reappeared today, he might be surprised to learn that humans are descended from viruses as well as from apes”.

OK but it jumps around in a disorganized way within a much larger story, and in particular slights the larger context of discovery of transposable elements [going back to Barbara McClintock]. I also was amazed, given that the transposable elements field is studded with distinguished women scientists [Members of the National Academy and Nobel Laureate](I can think of 5 in the first few seconds of reflection] that this story reinforces the idea that all of the important exciting work in science is done by ground-breaking men- indeed, the story is poorer for having omitted the work of these women. This also does not talk much about the concerns of those who worry about recombination and spread of these jumping genes. Still, I am ... More »

This is an incredibly stimulating scientific piece. It makes me feel as if I understand one whit of an incredibly complex process, although I must trust the sources for authenticity.

Great story with terrific implications for young learners! The opportunity abounds to take this story and turn it into the kinds of questions in a classroom that can provide a "threshold" event for students who may ultimately decide to pursue careers in science and research. For teachers, this is content well-worth adding to any discipline's curriculum.

The two most intriguing articles I have ever read on genetics have been in the New Yorker. The first was several years ago, and explained to me how mitochondrial DNA can be used to trace how long ago two species diverged, in the context of canine behavior and genetics. The second is this one, which tells us why viruses, and retroviruses and lentiviruses in particular, have affected our evolution. There is a hint at the end about how retroviruses can explain, in large part, speciation. No other explanation has ever made sense to me about speciation, but this does. I recommend this to everyone, though people who do not believe in evolution will be even more apalled than they already are. Imagine - We are not descended just from ... More »

Fascinating story, which I really enjoyed. However, it didn't present any arguments from the people who might disagree with these theories regarding endogenous retroviruses, so it's not technically very balanced. So I had to give it a bit of a ding on fairness.