Summary 1

Kutschera U. Humanity and evolution. Nature [Internet]. 2009 Feb 11 [cited 2009 Sept 17];457: 763-764. Available from: http://www.nature.com.mutex.gmu.edu/nature/journal/v457/n7231/full/457763a.html

In Kutschera’s article Humanity and evolution, he begins by telling us that two great men, Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln, were born on February 12, 1809. Both of these men also believed in that slavery was wrong. A historical study being done by Adrian Desmond and James Moore, entitled Darwin's Sacred Cause, is attempting to prove that Darwin had made a connection between evolution in animals and evolution in people. They further want to prove that Darwin’s studies were always intended to have a moral and social impact.
As scientists delve deeper into the human genome, Kutschera cautions, we must be careful not to let our own opinions and preconceptions effect the results found. He is concerned that, as we discover genes responsible for the basic senses of right and wrong, we will begin to not hold people responsible for their own actions. Instead, those decisions might be blamed on a defective gene. He cautions that we must behave as scientists-examining issues with dispassion and not translating those conclusions into how we should take that information and use it in the present. If we do, then we will be going against the intentions of Darwin and Lincoln.