This novel is fiction,
except for the parts that aren’t.
“Welcome to our genetic world. Fast, furious, and out of control. This is not the world of the future—it’s the world right now. Is a loved one missing some body parts? Are blondes becoming extinct? Is everyone at your dinner table of the same species? Humans and chimpanzees differ in only 400 genes; is that why an adult human being resembles a chimp fetus? And should that worry us? There’s a new genetic cure for drug addiction—is it worse than the disease?
We live in a time of momentous scientific leaps; a time when it’s possible to sell our eggs and sperm online for thousands of dollars; test our spouses for genetic maladies and even frame someone for a genetic crime. We live in a time when one fifth of all our genes are owned by someone else, and an unsuspecting person and his family can be pursued cross-country because they happen to have certain valuable genes within their chromosomes…
Devilishly clever, Next blends fact and fiction into a breathless tale of a new world where nothing is what it seems, and a set of new possibilities can open at every turn.”
Michael Crichton was a visionary among visionaries. You will find few other science fiction authors whose work turned out to be as prescient as Crichton’s; you will find fewer still who had a bibliography at the end of most of their books. Next is one of Crichton’s most researched works. In a note at the end, he lays out five takeaways from his research:
- Stop patenting genes.
- Establish clear guidelines for the use of human tissues.
- Pass laws to ensure that data about gene testing is made public.
- Avoid bans on research.
- Rescind the Bayh-Dole Act: a 1980 Congressional decision allowing university researchers to sell their discoveries for their own profit, even when that research has been funded by taxpayer money.
These takeaways bear importance in our modern biological world, including agriculture. We are increasingly using a monoculture of patented, bioengineered crops. In my conversation with Cori Rowley, we talked about the need for creativity in local agriculture and the decline in creativity among the agricultural sector. This decline in creativity was not the choice of producers but rather was mandated upon them due to seed patents. Breeding seeds became a practice of the past for farmers as new plants were engineered to be infertile and patents made it illegal to cross genetically-modified crops with heirloom crops. Many farms have had their seed banks destroyed in the process of lawsuits with large corporations such as Monsanto. Small, local producers are gaining an edge here as the public begins to understand our biodiversity crisis and the increased benefits in taste and quality of “heirloom” crops. These crops produce a diverse range of colors and shapes of fruits and veggies that may seem distant from their modern, genetically-modified cousins. Next warns us of the ethical and environmental dangers of allowing genetics to fall into the hands of a few powerful patent monopolies.
