[Commentary] Replanting the Family Tree

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

So I know that my depiction of sickle cell anemia here is fairly inaccurate, but it was in pursuit of telling a story.

The one aspect that isn't inaccurate is the ability to treat and ultimately cure the disease. That's not even futuristic anymore, as CRISPR-based gene-editing has shown incredible success in clinical trials.

This is a disease that is relatively common among black populations, and primarily in sub-Saharan Africa. But we've made some amazing strides in treatment thanks to our new ability to provide these kinds of precise therapies. It's an exciting time to be alive, and it makes me wonder what other kinds of genetic diseases can be easily treated.

Though the second half of the story is really more about this idea of identity. From this I am inspired by the story of Harry Pace, told in the serialized The Vanishing of Harry Pace from Radiolab. Louie's grandfather would likely be considered black given his origins in Libya, but his relatively light skin would him look similar enough to Italians that one wouldn't tell.

In this story, he is a refugee fleeing the Chadian-Libyan Conflict and ending up on the shores of Italy. The topic of refugees in Italy is politically charged today, although it shouldn't be. Refugees can be valuable additions to a community and a culture and we should embrace not just the moral argument but the economic one too.

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