Man as a Species
Jung-Hye Roe(Department of Biological Sciences)

- Dr. Jung-Hye Roe, the first female professor in the College of Natural Sciences, specializes in molecular microbiology, and is currently teaching in the Department of Biological Sciences. She is well known for her work in the gene regulation of microorganisms. As the head of Seoul National University's Research Affairs Office, Professor Roe was in full charge of organizing the investigation panel at the time of the Hwang Woo-Suk scandal and was commended for her efforts.

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The entirety of human genetic information, the complete sequence of base-pairs comprising the human genome was announced in April, 2003, 50 years after the discovery of the structure of genes. 3.12 billion base-pairs compose the 46 molecules of DNA which comprise the 46 human chromosomes, but only 30,000 genes are estimated to encode proteins., even. The small number of ‘active’ genes in the human genome has astounded many people; how can man, the lord of creation, have so little? Even single celled bacteria have 10,000 genes, nematodes have 20,000, and mice have 30,000. The fact that the rice we consume every day has a whopping 60,000 genes does little for mankind’s already bruised self esteem.

Unraveling genetic information can be in some aspects, a humbling process. Although we might expect to have complex genomes befitting our stature as the dominant species, the numbers don’t live up to our expectations. 99 percent of our genes match those of our closest relative, the chimpanzee. Regardless of our expectations, these 30,000 genes control our lives, from a single fertilized egg cell to a 100 trillion cell adult, directing all biological processes, throughout aging and death.

We humans are remarkably self-centered. It is nearly impossible for us to look beyond ourselves. Once mankind has addressed the basic problems of food, clothing, and shelter, his attention is turned to how to live longer, healthier, and how to prolong his youth. Today, research in developed countries is mainly focused on biosciences, particularly medical sciences, which corresponds well with mankind’s dream of everlasting life. Relatively little interest is show to the world around us. Mankind’s obsession with everlasting life and youth has lead to the development of high-tech diagnostic equipment and discovery of new drugs. It has driven the creation of artificial organs and tissue. In the extreme, such efforts may turn to cloning humans, partially or as a whole, to use as spare parts. After all, why use clunky mechanical parts when you can have better, custom tailored organic ones? Preferably from a human source of course, however unrelated, than from animals such as pigs or goats. As it is the nature of the human immune system to reject alien organs and tissue, it would seem obviously advantageous to have a set of spare parts, literally, from oneself. For us, the ends justifies the means, ergo cloning ourselves for extra parts would not be a problem. As it is said in a rather disturbing advertisement, no one remembers second place. Why settle for good enough, when better is just around the corner?

Even as the environment around him crumbles, and countless other species are driven to extinction, the great Homo sapiens strives on for ‘development’ and ‘innovation’, speeding up his ever rolling conveyer belts and assembly lines. Mankind may be clever, but still is but a single species, tied to the ecosystem, as is all other life. Failure to recognize and accept this irrefutable fact, will have terrible consequences. It is the epitome of irony, that while man strives to achieve immortality through biological means, he is also first handedly disrupting the ecosystem, and destroying the environment.

All life on this planet is related, in varying degrees, to each other. We are all the offspring of a common ancestor, which arose some 4 billion years ago, and created numerous families, all changing and developing into the biota of today over countless millennia. The survivors of this process, ‘evolution’, now populate the every corner of the world. Limited resources have lead to an unavoidable competition for survival, and such natural selection has ensured the survival of the fittest, which now populate the earth. Scientists, in all their brilliance, have succeeded in discovering the principles of evolution, but most people seriously misunderstand ‘competition for survival’, and ‘survival of the fittest’, namely the concept of natural selection. They believe incorrectly that unlimited competition for survival is a fundamental of nature, that those who rise victorious, stepping on the others, are those who have survived, and prevailed by the laws of nature.

This is not the truth. The concept of fitness, as proposed by Darwin and agreed upon by numerous scientists, is that the fittest is the individual that leaves the most offspring, or passes on the most genes to following generations. No matter how brilliant or socially successful a person is, if he or she does not leave any offspring, the biological fitness of the individual is zero. These days, many gyms are called ‘fitness centers’. However, fitness is basically how well one adapts to the environment, to nature, and continually contributes to the gene pool by leaving offspring. Viewing the evolution of mankind from this perspective, current trends occurring in Korea seem especially un-biological. Increasingly later marriages, reluctance to have children, focusing solely on ones own well being and health and longevity are all the twisted outcome of mankind’s self-centered disposition, his blindness toward the fact that he is also but a single species whose fate is intertwined with others.

Humans share the same biological basics with other species; the genetic code is universal from bacteria to humans, and the way this genetic information is translated, replicated, and expressed is in most part, remarkably preserved across most organisms. Such unity among species is not limited to molecular or individual levels, and can be found in populations and societies, amazingly applying even to the nature of evolution, communicating with the environment. Unity within diversity, as this phenomenon is called, further supports the idea that all species originated from a common ancestor. Such unity allows us to apply biological processes discovered from insects to cure human diseases. It makes it possible for test results from rats to give hope to people. Its ironic how mankind, who benefits substantially form other species, flourishing by thoroughly exploiting other organisms, has become oblivious to the basic principles of the biological system, the very sustenance of his prosperity.

Let us return to the numbers, the measly thirty thousand genes. Despite a rather small number of genes, humans possess unmatched ability and complexity. We know of space, the sun and the stars, our own Earth. We know what we are made of, how we function, how we change. We have developed languages and tools. We have gone beyond the material, discovering transcendental truths, uncovering that we cannot see. Numbers can be deceiving. Your height, your salary, your IQ do not make who you are, they do not decide your worth as a person. Indeed it is our hope, as it is equally our task to achieve qualitative growth and leap beyond numbers.

'Natural Sciences' vol.22
26 Nov. 2007
PR Office