Uploaded July 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
IN THE NAME OF THE GENE
Directed by Stephanie Welch
Available for educational use: bullfrogfilms.com/newreleases.html
IN THE NAME OF THE GENE tells the story of the more than century-long myth of an all powerful “gene” and how this concept has been used as a social weapon to promote certain political agendas.
The concept of a “gene” – which came about during the Gilded Age – conveniently supported the notion that biology was destiny and that creating policies to directly address social ills like poverty, alcoholism, was a waste of time because those problems were said to be inherent in certain people themselves and their descendants.
Despite the lack of scientific evidence to support genetic determinism, the gene concept has endured, represented by the impressive DNA double helix. Developments such as epigenetics, which purport to take into account the role “the environment” plays in heredity and development, are based on the original flawed gene concept that the premise that the secret to life can be reduced to molecular chemistry. Think tanks, academics, and popular media simply repackage long-debunked claims about “what makes us what we are” with the assumption that the science is solid.
IN THE NAME OF THE GENE warns that failing to question scientific dogmas like biological determinism can aid attempts to roll back progressive policies that address inequality and discrimination, and open the door to a resurgence of eugenics.
IN THE NAME OF THE GENE
Directed by Stephanie Welch
Available for educational use: bullfrogfilms.com/newreleases.html
IN THE NAME OF THE GENE tells the story of the more than century-long myth of an all powerful “gene” and how this concept has been used as a social weapon to promote certain political agendas.
The concept of a “gene” – which came about during the Gilded Age – conveniently supported the notion that biology was destiny and that creating policies to directly address social ills like poverty, alcoholism, was a waste of time because those problems were said to be inherent in certain people themselves and their descendants.
Despite the lack of scientific evidence to support genetic determinism, the gene concept has endured, represented by the impressive DNA double helix. Developments such as epigenetics, which purport to take into account the role “the environment” plays in heredity and development, are based on the original flawed gene concept that the premise that the secret to life can be reduced to molecular chemistry. Think tanks, academics, and popular media simply repackage long-debunked claims about “what makes us what we are” with the assumption that the science is solid.
IN THE NAME OF THE GENE warns that failing to question scientific dogmas like biological determinism can aid attempts to roll back progressive policies that address inequality and discrimination, and open the door to a resurgence of eugenics.
