1. Cited by D. Nelkin and M. S. Lindee, The DNA Mystique. The Gene as a Cultural Icon, W.H. Freeman, New York, 1995, p. 7.
2. Quoted in Leon Jaroff, “The Gene Hunt,” Time, March 20, 1989, pp. 62–67.
3. D. Koshland, “Elephants, Monstrosities and the Law,” Science 25 (February 4, 1992), p. 777.
4. I am not challenging here that the Human Genome Project has many public health applications or that the deciphering of the genomes of other species is of great consequence in healthcare, agriculture, animal husbandry, and industry. The question is how much it can contribute to solve the three fundamental problems faced by human biology which are expounded in this chapter.
5. This statement is overly optimistic, and it may be outright erroneous if the phrase “understood causation” is not precisely construed. Malaria and AIDS are two diseases whose causation is understood at a number of levels, yet we fail to treat them “with relatively little cost and the best results.” In any case, one can anticipate that increased knowledge of the etiology of these diseases may lead to successful development of effective vaccines and curative drugs.