"The idea that the poor are genetically different from the rich or that men are naturally more intelligent than women may seem laughable but it’s an argument regularly used as a social weapon to stall the advancement of equality and maintain the status quo. Since the discovery of DNA, the idea that genes are somehow responsible for everything has permeated society."
Is it the latest gene scandal or a blessing for medicine and agriculture? CRISPR allows scientists to change the genetic material of all living organisms. Researchers are developing therapies for incurable diseases; plants with new characteristics are being created. But the designer baby is also within reach. How far should medicine or agriculture be allowed to go? Researchers, ethicists and critics do agree: society urgently needs to debate the chances and boundaries of genetic engineering.
How has the extremist group Boko Haram, which began as a small Islamic sect, managed to make Nigeria, the richest country in Africa, and all its neighbours, tremble with fear? Who are they and how did they become so powerful? Xavier Muntz spent a month in Northern Nigeria, in the heart of the red zone, to answer these very questions. He met with many people, all directly affected by this religious uprising. Victims, soldiers and even Jihadi sympathisers.
