When genes genius

REGULAR readers will know I have grave concerns about cannabis and the clamour for its legalisation. Professor Sir Robin Murray, a world authority on schizophrenia, waded into the debate this week by revealing that one in six people with psychosis would never have developed it if SCIENTISTS announced this week that they have managed to ‘edit out’ key genes responsible for autism traits — heralding the prospect of eradicating autism and other mental health conditions in future generations.

this is real Brave new World stuff and should be welcomed, for it will bring an end to the suffering of affected individuals and their families.

there is a counter argument, though. think of the great minds that didn’t they had not smoked cannabis. That’s 50,000 people in the UK with a disabling mental illness following recreational use of a drug that campaigners insist is harmless. Next time you hear the likes of Sir Nick Clegg or lord Hague insisting that cannabis should be legalised, remember that statistic. function perfectly and saw the world differently as a result. From Beethoven to van Gogh, Hemingway to Amy Winehouse, so many artists have struggled with psychological problems and personal torment — but how they enriched humanity.

Yes, we must work towards better treatments, but what a dull version of the human race we’d be left with if we ‘edited out’ every idiosyncrasy. there can be perfection in imperfection.