Hank Greely, a law professor at Stanford University who specializes in the ethical implications of new biotechnologies, is also not particularly concerned about the future of epigenome editing, beyond issues of safety, effectiveness and access. To him, the tools may be novel, but the idea of adjusting our epigenomes is not particularly new.

“We modify nurture all the time,” he said, from taking Ozempic to reading self-help books, hoping to affect the nexus where environment and biology meet. “Now that we’re directly looking at the epigenetics, it feels different,” he said, “but we’re actually seeing what’s been under the hood the entire time.”