That Time General Electric Patented A Living Organism

Who Owns The Building Blocks Of You?

We’re made up of small molecular building blocks. As science has found out, these blocks can be tweaked and modified in countless ways. But, as the technology of DNA and genetic engineering gets more adept it adds value to these building blocks in strange ways.

Evolution has created variety across the planet — even within our own species. DNA has been altered in countless ways by nature itself. According to Jamie Metzl’s book Hacking Darwin, this effect can be seen dramatically in sports.

Eero Antero Mäntyranta was one of the most successful skiers in Finnish olympic history. Between 1960 and 1972 he won 7 Olympic medals and two world championships. In the 1990’s DNA tests were performed on Mäntyranta that found that the former Olympic champion and 29 other family members had interesting DNA variations.

Mäntyranta and his family had a single mutation of the EPOR gene. This mutation made them better at producing hemoglobin, which in turn gave them more endurance than the average person. Although Mäntyranta did train hard and invest time in his sport, he was given a genetic gift by nature.

Metzl’s book also examines Kenyan long distance runners. Over the past 30 years Kenya has won half the Olympic long distance running medals. The vast majority of these winners came from one tribe — the Kalenjin.