Aug 22nd 2015

Editing humanity: The prospect of genetic enhancement

The world this week

Leaders

Genetic engineering

Editing humanity

A new technique for manipulating genes holds great promise—but rules are needed to govern its use

NGOs in China

Pummelling the little platoons

The Communist Party wants to squeeze civil society. That would be unwise as well as unjust

Britain’s Labour Party

The resistible rise of Jeremy Corbyn

A victory for the hard-left candidate would be bad for Labour—but also for the Tories

Higher education in America

Better ways to pay for college

Hillary Clinton and, especially, Marco Rubio have promising ideas for how to finance a university degree

The Ashley Madison hack

An affair to remember

The theft of data from a website that facilitates infidelity is a wake-up call

Letters

On low-cost private schools, Nigel Piercy, Rosalind Franklin, hipsters, driverless cars

Letters

Briefing

Genome editing

The age of the red pen

It is now easy to edit the genomes of plants, animals and humans

Gene drives

The most selfish genes

Giving bits of DNA the power to edit themselves is an intriguing, and worrying, possibility

United States

Ten years after Hurricane Katrina

Some people got away alright

Iowa’s state fair

Of chops and choppers

Pet waste

A crap-shoot

Companies and employment

Who’s the boss?

Lexington

The Sandernista revolution

The Americas

Sex and society in Latin America

Wonder women and macho men

The costs of sexism

Girl power

Bello

The migrant nation

Asia

Politics in Myanmar

Pistols and purges

Unease in Thailand

Game of thrones

Sri Lanka's parliamentary election

Mahinda misfires

India’s lyrical politicians

Honeybees and souls

Banyan

Asia’s new family values

China

Non-governmental organisations

Uncivil society

After the Tianjin disaster

Poisonous connections

Middle East & Africa

Arab armies

Full of sound and fury

Hizbullah’s learning curve

Deadly experience

Islamic State and antiquities

Nothing is sacred

Palestinian hunger strikes

To feed or to free

South African property

Trendy townships

Ali Bongo shares his inheritance

Giving back in Gabon

Europe

Russia’s economy

The path to penury

Azerbaijan

Back in the USSR

Angela Merkel’s power

Angela regina

Greek debt

What the classics know

Bullfighting

Why Spanish bulls are now deadlier

Britain

Britain’s new underclass

Hiding in plain sight

The Labour Party

Seeing red

Milk prices

Cowed

Immigration worries

Tunnel vision

Social work and policing

A new beat

Financing airports

Runway robbery

Bagehot

Getting to Cambridge

International

Islam and slavery

The persistence of history

Journalist wanted

Business

The motor trade

Death of a car salesman

China’s motor trade

Driven to the brink

European mobile telecoms

Together we stand

Odebrecht

Principles and values

Schumpeter

When workers are owners

Finance & economics

The sell-off in commodities

Goodbye to all that

American oil

Nafta naphtha

Bitcoin

Forking hell

Tax blacklists

EU hypocrites!

Amish banking

Nice gig

Free exchange

Graduate stock

Schools brief

Of what is the universe really made?

To the dark side

Science & technology

El Niño

Bringing up baby

3D printing

What goes around, comes around

Climatology

Childbirth

Natural aerobatics

Glider spiders

Books & arts

Childhood autism

Horrible history

Finance

The money trap

Asia’s history

Brilliant threads

Gore Vidal

Life out loud

American television

Down and dirty in city hall

Economic & financial indicators

Interactive indicators

Output, prices and jobs

Trade, exchange rates, budget balances and interest rates

Markets

US housing

The Economist commodity-price index

Obituary

Obituary: Padre Pietro Lavini