VICE Season Four Preview

Season Four of VICE on HBO premieres this Friday, February 5 at 11:00pm. Season Four is VICE's longest running season yet with 18 episodes from February 5 through July 1. The season opens with a segment on unnatural selection, human gene editing, and designer babies hosted by Isobel Yeung. The segment is timely given the U.K.'s recent decision to allow scientists to genetically modify human embryos.

After spending three months researching the topic, Isobel says she is absolutely convinced that we should all be engaged in the so-far largely science fiction debate on whether or not we should be able to edit our own genes, before science takes over and its too late. For centuries, scientists have been working to change the genetic traits of plants and animals. Now, a new gene-editing method called CRISPR has made that process astonishingly simple—so simple that it could easily be used on humans. Isobel reports from Brazil, Scotland, China, and the United States on the technological advances that could reshape evolution as we know it. She speaks with renowned experts including George Church, Jennifer Doudna and various bioethicists and foreign policy experts. Over the course of the segment, Isobel learns about what this technology actually means for the next generation. Isobel is a Correspondent and Producer for VICE on HBO and you can follow her on Twitter @IsobelYeung.