Scientists had until very recently believed that there were
around 100,000 human genes, available to make each and every one of us in our
splendid diversity. 41) __________. So that grand panjandrum, the human, may not
manage to boast twice as many genes as that microscopic nowhere—worm, with its
18,000 genes, the nematode. Even the fruit fly, considered so negligible that
even the most extreme of animal rights activists don’t kick up a fuss about its
extensive use in genetic experimentation, has 16,000 genes. 42)
__________. Without understanding in the least what the
scientific implications of this discovery might be, anybody with the smallest
curiosity about people—and that’s pretty much all of us—can see that it is
pretty significant. 43) __________. Human complexity, on this information, can
he Best explained in the manner it looks to be best explained before scientific
evidence becomes involved at all. In other words, in the nature versus nurture
debate, the answer, thankfully, is "both". 44) __________.
Nurture does have a huge part to play in human destiny. Love can transform
humans. Trust can make a difference. Second chances are worth trying. Life, to a
far greater extent than science thought up until now, is what we make it. One
day we may know exactly what we can alter and what we cannot. Knowing that there
is a great deal that we can alter or improve, as well as a great deal that we
must accept and value for its own sake, makes the human journey progressive
rather than deterministic, complex and open, rather than simple and
unchangeable. For no one can suggest that 30,000 genes doesnt’t
give the human race much room for manoeuver. Look how many tunes, after all,
we’re able to squeeze out of eight notes. But it surely must give the lie to the
rather sinister belief that has been gaining credence in the West that there is
a hardwired, no-prisoners-taken, gene for absolutely everything and that whole
sections of the population can be labelled as "stupid" or "lazy" or "criminal"
or somehow or other sub-human. 45) __________. [A] Instead, like the eight
notes which can only make music (albeit in astounding diversity), the 30,000
genes can only make people. The rest is up to us. [B] Now, the two rival
teams decoding the book life, have each found that instead there are only
somewhere between 30,000 and 40,000 genes. [C] There’s nothing wrong with our
genes: it’s that our modern food supply has given us far too many calories and
far more food processing than our bodies evolved to handle. [D] The most
obvious conclusion to be drawn from the limited number of genes available to
programme a human is that biological deternination goes so far and no
further. [E] Why is this so important Because it should mean that we can
accept one another’s differences more easily, and help each other when
appropriate. [F] Some genes were identified in both of the previous studies,
which made the researchers feel pretty sure that they were indeed looking at a
gene. [G] Not for the first time it has to be admitted that it’s a funny old
world, and that we humans are the beings who make it such.