What defines what we are?

Some traits, behaviors, and diseases are inherited through our DNA. Some are derived from the environment we grow up in. Most are a mix of both. In recent decades, scientific and technological advances have allowed us to investigate our genetic material down to the smallest detail.

Today we can even edit that material – but should we? The more we know, and the more we can do, the more we are reminded that DNA is only part of the equation. DNA makes proteins which make cells which make organs which make bodies which make societies. No one of those things, but all together, define what we are and what we can become.