Patterns of Life

The Nobel Prize for Chemistry was announced this week and was awarded to Dr. Emmanuelle Charpentier and Dr. Jennifer Doudna for their work on a DNA editing process using CRISPR-Cas9 as “genetic scissors”. Presently on Netflix, there is a 2019 documentary called Human Nature that goes into wonderful detail on the world of CRISPR-Cas9. CRISPR stands for clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats. Without going too deep on the science, CRISPR is a genetic sequence pattern that occurs naturally and was observed about 30 years ago for the first time. The implications of this work are far-reaching and mind-blowing.

What really captured my thoughts about all of this was the beauty of the mathematics and science involved. It is another example of the amazing dynamics of the universe that we have a nominal glimpse of as human beings. We have certainly learned an enormous amount about our world and our place in it over time. However, we are sadly mistaken if we let ourselves believe we have it all figured out. We have only touched the tip of the iceberg.

It is our nature to assume we know more than we actually do. When we put aside our arrogance and accept our ignorance as a reality, we open ourselves to truly see things from a proper perspective. What can we learn today that will move us forward? What can we let go of that is a hindrance to our growth? When we see the world through curiosity and wonder, we enable ourselves to experience life more abundantly. Every day new discoveries are being made across all domains of life. I can’t wait to see what is just around the corner.