Already, genetic analysis is a commodity sold on the Internet for as little as $500. Each day, more people submit DNA for analysis ”” just as the students did for their class ”” and confront perplexed doctors with profound and frequently unanswerable questions about what the results mean.
That’s because most genomic information is awash in uncertainty, Kim says. Few diseases are caused by a single, readily identifiable gene; most result from the interplay of genes and a host of other factors, from lifestyle to the environment.
That researchers still have so far to go in their effort to understand the workings of the genome may come as a surprise to many who perceived Clinton’s White House announcement, followed three years later by news that the final genome sequence was virtually complete, as the climax of the quest.
In fact, the completion of the Human Genome Project was more of a milestone along the road to understanding than it was a mission accomplished. Most scientists regard the achievement as a launching pad for revolutions in biology and related technologies that are just now getting underway.
[blockquote] Synthetic biology has a dark side, too. Randall Larsen, director of the Homeland Security Institute, notes that at a recent lunch he asked seven leading scientists how many could synthesize smallpox, eradicated 30 years ago, in their labs. Three raised their hands.
“I’m not worried about the world’s leading scientists,” Larsen says. “What worries me is that five years from now this will be in the hands of graduate students.“[/blockquote]
I always think back to what the Jeff Goldblum character said in Jurassic Park, “They are so concerned about whether or not they could, they don’t stop to think if they should.”