The story of the biggest tech revolution of the 21st Century.
And it isn’t digital, it’s biological.
Human Nature
The story of CRISPR — the most important scientific discovery of the 21st century.
A breakthrough called CRISPR has given us unprecedented control over the basic building blocks of life. It opens the door to curing diseases, reshaping the biosphere, and designing our own children. Human Nature is a provocative exploration of CRISPR’s far-reaching implications, through the eyes of the scientists who discovered it, the families it’s affecting, and the bioengineers who are testing its limits. How will this new power change our relationship with nature? What will it mean for human evolution? To begin to answer these questions we must look back billions of years and peer into an uncertain future.
Feature FilmsNow Playing CRISPR & GeneticsFamous DiscoveriesScience & Society
Watch the Emmy Nominated Documentary via PBS-NOVA
“Those who lament the state of science journalism should take note of Human Nature.”
Hollywood Reporter
“Human Nature a new film on the technology, braids the tool’s promise and potential perils into a riveting double helix.”
“Far and away the most intelligent, thought-provoking movie of the young year…See it and be amazed.”
Are you an educator? Login or Sign Up for a free account to view the Study Guide with Discussion Questions and Activities for this film, created in partnership with Innovative Genomics Institute (IGI).
Our collection of free short films on CRISPR and Genetics.
IGI Illustrated Glossary: See illustrated definitions of scientific terms, focused on genetics and gene editing. Editable image files are also available to download and free to use for education.
IGI Multimedia Library: A curated collection of high-quality videos, podcasts, articles, and other digital resources on CRISPR, gene editing, and ethics.
DIRECTED AND PRODUCED BY
Adam Bolt
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Elliot Kirschner
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS
Dan Rather
Greg Boustead
PRODUCERS
Meredith DeSalazar
Sarah Goodwin
Elliot Kirschner
WRITTEN BY
Adam Bolt & Regina Sobel
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Derek Reich
EDITORS
Regina Sobel
Steve Tyler
ORIGINAL MUSIC
Keegan DeWitt
ART DIRECTION
Ned Piyadarakorn
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER
Harry Jackson
IN MEMORY OF
Shakir Cannon
a tireless advocate for victims of sickle-cell disease
1983 - 2017
FEATURING
David Sanchez
Dolores Sanchez
Matthew Porteus
David Baltimore
Fyodor Urnov
Alta Charo
Hank Greely
Feng Zhang
Jennifer Doudna
Antonio Regalado
Jill Banfield
Francisco Mojica
Rodolphe Barrangou
George Daley
Emmanuelle Charpentier
Luhan Yang
George Church
Ian Hodder
Ryan Phelan
Stephen Hsu
Kelsey McClelland
Palmer Weiss
Ethan Weiss
Ruthie Weiss
ALSO FEATURING
Aliza Ben-Baruch
Joab Camarena
Tshaka Cunningham
Michael Dabrowski
Paul Dabrowski
Bobby Dhadwar
Bowyer G. Freeman
Kevin Holden
Ian Jepson
Ceren Kabukcu
Yinan Kan
Luciano Marraffini
Marco Milella
Jorge Piedrahita
Qing Zhu
WE GRATEFULLY ACKNOWLEDGE THE COOPERATION OF
Australian Institute of Marine Science
Barrangou Lab, NC State University
BRAS DEL PORT Saltworks (Santa Pola, Spain)
Çatalhöyük Research Project
Church Lab, Harvard Medical School
Doudna Lab, UC Berkeley
eGenesis
Genomic Prediction
Gottschalk Cranberry
Innovative Genomics Institute
Lake Wheeler Dairy Farm
Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford
Marraffini Lab, Rockefeller University
Minority Coalition for Precision Medicine
MIT Technology Review
Mojica Lab, University of Alicante
Piedrahita Lab, NC State University
Porteus Lab, Stanford University School of Medicine
Presidio Hill School
Pringle Lab, Stanford University School of Medicine
Statz Bros, Inc.
Syngenta
Synthego
Zhang Lab, The Broad Institute
Science is a collective effort.
We would like to acknowledge the hundreds of other researchers around the world who have contributed to the understanding of gene editing and CRISPR.
ADDITIONAL CAMERA
Brian Alberth
Dave Amamoto
Kurt Andre
Jonathan Cohen
Asad Faruqi
Ramsey Fendall
Dennis Haggerty
Alexis Keenan
Ronan Killeen
Eric Kornblum
Nick Lindner
Ling Mai
Ryan Maslyn
Amanda McGrady
Jenelle Pearring
Jimmy Purtill
Maddy Voinea
Josh Weinhaus
DRONE OPERATORS
Joe Gioffre
Travis Jack
Derek Reich
SOUND
Dave Amamoto
Jonathan Cohen
Dennis Haggerty
Matt King
Anna Sagatov
FIELD PRODUCERS
Nina Griffin
Jimmy Purtill
SCIENCE GURU
Sarah Goodwin
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Harry Jackson
ASSISTANT EDITORS
Hannah Beaton
Guillaume Galuz
JiYe Kim
ADDITIONAL GRAPHICS
Chris George
EDITORIAL CONSULTANTS
Andrew Blackwell
Betsy Kagen
ARCHIVAL RESEARCH
Andrew Horn
Gideon C. Kennedy
ARCHIVAL CONSULTING
Rich Remsberg
DISTRIBUTION ADVISOR
Annie Roney
POST-PRODUCTION FACILITY
The Edit Center, Brooklyn, NY
DIGITAL INTERMEDIATE AND FINISHING
Final Frame, New York
COLORIST
Stewart Griffin
ONLINE EDITOR
Anthony Campagna
PRODUCER
Caitlin Tartaro
TECHNICAL SUPERVISOR
Sandy Patch
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Will Cox
POST-PRODUCTION SOUND
Sound Lounge, New York
SUPERVISING SOUND EDITOR/RE-RECORDING MIXER
Steve 'Major' Giammaria
SOUND EDITOR
Evan Benjamin
ASSISTANT SOUND EDITOR
Craig LoGiudice
PRODUCTION ACCOUNTING
Phil Kim
Evan Reeves
LEGAL COUNSEL
Ellie Altshuler
Christina Chang
Lee Goodwin
Nixon Peabody, LLP
CLEARANCE COUNSEL
David M. Fox
Chris Perez
Donaldson + Callif, LLP
TRANSCRIPTION
Joanne Messina
Brian O’Halloran
GERMAN TRANSLATION
Sandra Meier
SCIENTIFIC REVIEWERS
Kevin Doxzen
Megan Hochstrasser
Keegan Sawyer
Christopher Walsh
CUTE KIDS
Weston Beatty
Zola Beatty
Josiah Coote
Tess Marie Coote
Graham Hill
Warren Hill
Helena Kirschner
Bridgett Sanchez
Kabir Roy Sarangan
Ovia Kalki Sarangan
Zoya Sarangan
Eli Sauerbrun
Dylan Steen
The filmmakers are grateful to Ron Vale for his support and vision in launching this effort.
VERY SPECIAL THANKS
Donna Bolt
Lee Bolt
Delancey DeSalazar
Joe DeSalazar
Rachel Fletcher
Valerie Gelber
Lee Goodwin
Julia Huang
Eva Kirschner
Helena Kirschner
Marc Kirschner
Phyllis Kirschner
Alan Oxman
Heather Reich
Yoni Sauerbrun
Linda Schwartzstein
Malia Simonds
Cooper “Fuzzman” Sobel
The Edit Center
The Staff of iBiology
SPECIAL THANKS
Line Bay
Paul Berg
Elizabeth Christopherson
Phillip Cleves
Janet Coffey
Ted Cohen
Michael Friend
Maria Jasin
Martin Jinek
Dan Kevler
Robert Kirshner
Eugene Koonin
Doug Koshland
Janet Mertz
Michael Rodgers
Alexandra Shor
Virginijus Šikšnys
Marilyn Simons
Jim Simons
THANKS
Bruce Alberts
Judy Aley
Uri Alon
Brittany Anderton
Ark Church of Baltimore
Madison August
Bethany Babbitt
Becky Bach
Alejandro Chávez Badiola
Harriet Bailey
Brett Baillie
Arne Bakker
Stephen Balogh
Donna Barnes
Daniel Bauer
Bay City Basketball
John Beatty
Zander Beatty
Elan Bechor
Chad Beck
Jon Beckwith
Shannon Behrman
Emily Smith Beitiks
Daniel Berenguer
Nessan Bermingham
Sebastián Bernales
Jill Blackford
Vero Bollow
Chris Boustead
Shelley Bradford
Marcie Bradley
Tamara Brenner
Abby Bronson
Janine Brumfield
Rachel Brunn
Blake Caliguiri
Schaine Callangan
Paula Cannon
Matteo Cantiello
Linda Cardinal
Dana Carroll
Gary Cartwright
Catalyst Restaurant
Ian Cheney
Katie Clark
Clare Clark
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Library
Edward Bruce Collins
Marvin A. Coote
Coquette Restaurant
Paul Costello
Sarah Marie Louise Dahl
Marcy Darnovsky
Kaustuva Das
Matthieu de Carbonnel
Jeff Dean
Dedeman Konya Hotel & Convention Center
Karen Dell
Kate DeTrempe
Matthew Diaz
Brandon Diaz
Aimee Dixon
Larry Dobson
Joanne Doherty
Samantha Dorman-Beal
Marshall Dungan
Johnnie Durham
Tara Dziedzic
Vicki Dzindzichashvili
Rory Earnshaw
Rachel Ecklund
Nick Ehrmann
Annie Ehrmann
Hülya Sevinç Ergenç
Ginger Exley
Scott Fahrenkrug
Rohnie Felber
Mónica Feliú-Mójer
Katherine Fenz
Diane Ferris
Kalesa Ferrucci
Christine Fields
Rachel Fletcher
Meghan Foley
Dana Foss
Free Speech Movement Café
Margarita Gallardo
Valentino Gantz
Molly Gavin
Haydy George
Charles Gersbach
Whitney Gilliom
Katherine Gleason
Amy Goodwin
Rachel Goodwin
Fawn Gottschalk
Sarah Gray
Garrett Greenan
Martin Gross
Daniel Gruskin
Hille Haker
Linda Hanley-Bowdoin
Kishore Hari
Jessica Harrop
Geoffrey Hawes
Erika Check Hayden
Matt Hill
Christine Hill
Franklin Hoke
Hotel Shattuck Plaza
Arnold W. Howard
Emily Howell
Polina E. Ilieva
International House Berkeley
Kevin Jacobson
Tony James
Bill Jessup
Christina Jones
Molly Jorgensen
Ellen Jorgensen
Gwendolyn Kansen
David Keegan
Nadja Kern
Jonathan King
Todd Klaenhammer
Eric Kornblum
Bilge Küçükdoğan
Jennifer Lee
Carolyn Lee
Cindy Lee
Alana Lerner
Riya Lerner
Janna Levin
Jeremiah Li
Han Li
Tom Lochner
Shannon Loelius
Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital
Tim Lynch
Michael Lynch
Sarah Lynn
Roxanne Makasdjian
Debbie Marks
Chris Martin
María Martín Arévalo
Christopher Mason
Andy May
Cathy McClelland
Tim McGill
Lee McGuire
Kara McKinley
Kate McLane
Tim Mitchison
Veronique Mocellin
Frank Moe
Bobby Moon
Siddhartha Mukherjee
Victoria Murphy
Stephanie Myers
National Academy of Sciences
Dushane Noble
April Norris
Northstar Ski Resort
Yolanda O'Bannon
Lee O’Neil
Stuart Orkin
Carol Padden
Vanessa Parra-Ramirez
Ashley Patrick
Ekaterina Pesheva
Leon Peshkin
Renato Polimanti
Ludmila Pollock
Isabel Ponte
Christopher Preston
John Pringle
Holly Prochilo
Jessica Proctor
Stella Quinn
Bhavini Rana
Heather Rauser
Toni Richardson
Riva Cucina
Sam Riviello
Elise Robinson
Gary Rollefson
Marie Roman
Pamela Ronald
Tolulope Rosanwo
Lee Rossoff
Sally Rowe
Brooke Rundle
Bill Rutter
Lura Salm
Artem Samoilenko
Chris Sander
Mary Pat Sass
Sapna Satagopan
Virginia Savova
Marsha Saxton
Dietram Scheufele
Alexandra Schnoes
Jessica Seitzer
Gio Serrano
María Dolores Serrano Cayuelas
Sharon Baptist Church of Baltimore
Gwen Shockey
Vipula Shukla
Saeed Siamak
Lauren Silbert
Sean Simpson
Dotti Sinnott
Sam Skemp
Rachel Skiffer
Taylor Skokan
Jennifer Smoter
Nadine Sobel
Renan Sper
John Spiro
Brett Staahl
Wesley Statz
Eric Steen
Stochastic Labs
Airdri Stoddart
Nico Stuurman
Edna Sun
Jongmin Sung
Kyanna Sutton
Suzanne Symonds
Emma Taddeo
Annie Tchu
Laurent Christian Asker Melchior Tellier
Michael Terns
Etosha Terryll
Allegra Thomas
Steve Thompson
Trevor Thompson
Charis Thompson
Sergio Tobar
John Tracey
Nathan Treff
Connor Tsuchida
Chris Tutino
David Uhlich
Pablo Valenzuela
John van der Oost
Hannah Vanderlan
Kellie Vaughan
Mike Veech
Rosa Veguilla
Tao Wang
Rebecca Ward
Gabriel Caleb Washington
Will Watkins
Nancy Wexler
Blake Wiedenheft
Deborah Williams-Hedges
Mike Wilper
Emma Wojtowicz
Jesse Wolfhagen
Mei Lie Wong
Jessica Wright
Julia Yellow
Melinda Zeder
Ray Zimmerman
ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE AND PHOTOS COURTESY OF
17 JUIN MEDIA / "Savoir Plus Sante 0 Des Cobayes Pour Guerir" Dir. Jean-Jacque Amsallem, June 3, 2000
A/V Geeks / "Thread of Life"
ABCNEWS VIDEOSOURCE
BFI National Archive
Bundesarchiv / "Opfer der Vergengenheit"
Dolores Sanchez
Ethan Weiss
F.I.L.M. Archives
Getty Images / BBC Universal / AFPTV / Photolibrary Pty Limited / South_agency
Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin
Huntley Film Archives
Institut National de L'audiovisuel / "TF1 20H" Prod. Li, Pierre / "20 hueres le journal" Prod. Flaysakier, Jean Daniel / "TF1 20 hueres" Prod. Medouni, Fatima
Milbrand Cinema
MIT Archives
National Academy of Sciences
National Archives and Records Administration
NBCUniversal Archives
Pond5 / janetti & Ocean Imaging
Shutterstock
Structure and Function of Haemoglobin" copyright University of London
Sveriges Television AB
SXSW
The Archives, California Institute of Technology / "Where is Biology Taking Us" by Robert Sinsheimer
The Galton Institute
Transit Film
Videoblocks
Wazee Digital
WGBH Media Library & Archives
WZZM
Judy Lehmberg
ADDITIONAL ARCHIVAL MATERIAL
52 Insights
American Medical Association
Atlantic
bioRxiv
Bladerunner
Business Insider
Center for Genetics and Society
Endpoints
Food Navigator
Futrism
http://infoproc.blogspot.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Y79Kpy4IYA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81uH5JeMRYo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6A9bbDI6fo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_zzFRjeGRI
Jurassic Park
kottke
Le Petit Journal
MIT Technology Review
Molecular Microbiology
Nature
Nature Communications
New Scientist
New Statesman
New York Times
OvaScience
Science
Star Trek: The Original Series
Synthego
The Kremlin
Time
Times of India
Twitter
Vanderbilt TV Archive
Washington Post
whatisbiotechnology.org
ADDITIONAL MUSIC
“Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30: III. Finale: Alla breve”
Performed by Lang Lang (Conductor), Sergei Rachmaninoff (Orchestra), Alexander Scriabin
(Performer), Yuri Termirkanov, (Performer), St. Petersburg Philharmonic (Performer)
Courtesy of Telarc, a division of Concord Music
Record Company: Telarc
"Night on Bald Mountain"
Performed by Eduardo Mata (Conductor), The Dallas Symphony Orchestra (Performer)
Courtesy of Sony Music
Record Company: RCA - Sony Classical
This film was made possible with support from Science Sandbox, a Simons Foundation initiative.
This film is funded in part by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.
The filmmakers also thank the BESI Fund at the San Francisco Foundation, Stonesthrow Fund, Rita Allen Foundation, and iBiology for their support of this film.
Distribution advisory services provided by ro*co films.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences under Grant No. 2122350 and 1 R25 GM139147. Any opinion, finding, conclusion, or recommendation expressed in these videos are solely those of the speakers and do not necessarily represent the views of the Science Communication Lab/iBiology, the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, or other Science Communication Lab funders.