Oedipus Rex in the Genomic Era Human Behaviour, Law and Society Yulia Kovas · Fatos Selita Oedipus Rex in the Genomic Era · Yulia Kovas Fatos Selita Oedipus Rex in the Genomic Era Human Behaviour, Law and Society Yulia Kovas Fatos Selita School of Professional Studies, Barrister (England andWales); Attorney Science &Technology and Counselor at Law (NY State) Goldsmiths University of London Goldsmiths University of London London, UK London, UK ISBN 978-1-349-96047-7 ISBN 978-1-349-96048-4 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-96048-4 ©The Editor(s) (if applicable) andThe Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Limited 2021 The author(s) has/have asserted their right(s) to be identified as the author(s) of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. This work is subject to copyright. 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Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made.The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Cover illustration: Daniel Hernanz Ramos/Getty Images This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Limited The registered company address is: The Campus, 4 Crinan Street, London, N1 9XW, United Kingdom Acknowledgement We dedicate this book to our parents. This book is a product of years of wonderment, bits of sabbatical, two lockdowns at the time of the pandemic and of infinite pleasure of working together. An inexhaustible source of inspiration for this work havebeenourstudents,whopropelknowledgebytheirenthusiasm,their questions and passion for knowledge. WearegratefultoRobertChapman,SashaMurrayandAmandaSelita for being the first readers and evaluators of our book. Your reassurance and insightful comments have given us an impetus to finally complete the work! A special thanks goes to Della Couling. It is an honour for us tohavereceivedyoureditsonourmanuscript.Weareinaweofyoureye for detail, your wisdom, wit and energy. v Contents 1 A Journey into the Genomic Era: SophoclesWill Be Our Guide… 1 Oedipus Rex and Behavioural Genetics 2 The Journey 4 Plot of theThreeTheban Plays 7 Characters of theTheban Plays (andTheir Equivalents in the Genomic Era) 11 A Note on Citations andTranslations 12 List ofTranslations Used inThis Book 13 References 15 2 Genes, Environments and LifeTrajectories 17 Familiality 20 Lineage 29 Chance, Genes and Crossroads 35 References 38 vii viii Contents 3 FreeWill in the Genomic Era 45 The FreeWill Confusion, Illusion and Delusion 46 FreeWill and Determinism 48 FreeWill and Errors of Attribution 53 FreeWill and Punishment 56 TheWill of the Self 64 References 67 4 Prophesied Future and Redefined Past in the Genomic Era 73 Destiny, Fatalism and Predetermination 74 Bringing Fate About 76 The New Pantheon of Gods in the Genomic Era 78 Prediction in the DigitalWorld 79 Oracles and Prophecy in the Genomic Era 83 The Power of Expectation 88 The Dangers of Misinterpretation 90 Redefining the Past 95 Support in Dealing with ‘Prophecies’ 96 ‘Quantum’ Prophecy 98 References 101 5 DNA:The GreatestText of All 111 Length ofText and Depth of Meaning 112 Genes vs. Genome 118 Lost and Found inTranslation 120 Alternative Splicing 122 Beyond Genes 126 Variation 128 Expression: Reading theText 136 The Age of theText 141 Particles, Atoms and Elements 141 Life Emerging from Non-Organic Universal Debris and Star Dust 143 DNA—The Connector of All Species 145 Editing theText 147 Storing New Meanings 149 Contents ix Randomness, Feedback and the Absence of a Plan 154 Oedipus Rex in the Genomic Era 157 Epilogue 159 Chorus (Citizens of the Genomic Era) 160 Afterword 161 References 162 Glossary 173 Index 231 List of Figures Fig. 1.1 Oedipus’ life journey. Oedipus’s life journey starts in Thebes, from which he is taken as a baby to Corinth where he grows up. In Delphi, the prophecy from the Oracle ‘derails’ his life. After the eventful journey he arrives in his birthplace—Thebes. In the sequel to Oedipus Rex, Oedipus ends his days in Colonus—the suburb of Athens (Source British Library Flickr) 14 Fig. 5.1 DNA structure 114 xi List of Boxes Box 5.1 DNA Structure 114 Box 5.2 Genome size 116 Box 5.3 Transcription 121 Box 5.4 Mitosis 132 Box 5.5 Methylation 138 Box 5.6 Data storage 150 xiii