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The Future of Genetics The Future of Genetics Beyond the Human Genome Project Russ Hodge FOREWORD by Nadia Rosenthal, Ph.D. This book is dedicated to the memory of my grandparents, E. J. and Mabel Evens and Irene Hodge; to my parents, Ed and Jo Hodge; and especially to my wife, Gabi, and my children, Jesper, Sharon, and Lisa, with love. 5 THE FUTURE OF GENETICS: Beyond the Human Genome Project Copyright © 2010 by Russ Hodge All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. For information contact: Facts On File, Inc. An imprint of Infobase Publishing 132 West 31st Street New York NY 10001 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hodge, Russ. The future of genetics : beyond the human genome project / Russ Hodge ; foreword by Nadia Rosenthal. p. ; cm. — (Genetics and evolution) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8160-6684-1 (alk. paper) 1. Genetics—Popular works. 2. Genetics—Forecasting. I. Title. II. Series: Genetics and evolution. [DNLM: 1. Genetics, Medical. 2. Genome, Human. 3. Molecular Biology—methods. QZ 50 H688f 2010] QH437.H63 2010 303.48'3—dc22 2009018297 Facts On File books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk quantities for businesses, associations, institutions, or sales promotions. Please call our Special Sales Department in New York at (212) 967-8800 or (800) 322-8755. You can find Facts On File on the World Wide Web at http://www.factsonfile.com Text design by Kerry Casey Illustrations by Sholto Ainslie Photo research by Elizabeth H. Oakes Composition by Hermitage Publishing Services Cover printed by Bang Printing, Brainerd, MN Book printed and bound by Bang Printing, Brainerd, MN Date printed: March 2010 Printed in the United States of America This book is printed on acid-free paper. GAE-FutureGene-dummy.indd 4 1/27/10 3:03:18 PM I say that it touches a man that his blood is sea water and his tears are salt, that the seed of his loins is scarcely different from the same cells in a seaweed, and that of stuff like his bones coral is made. I say that the physical and biologic law lies down with him, and wakes when a child stirs in the womb, and that the sap in a tree, uprushing in the spring, and the smell of the loam, where the bacteria bestir themselves in darkness, and the path of the sun in the heaven, these are facts of first importance to his mental conclusions, and that a man who goes in no consciousness of them is a drifter and a dreamer, without a home or any contact with reality. —An Almanac for Moderns: A Daybook of Nature, Donald Culross Peattie, copyright ©1935 (renewed 1963) by Donald Culross Peattie Contents Foreword Preface Acknowledgments Introduction ix xii xv xvi 1 The Origins of Twenty-first-Century Biology Plants, Animals, and Cells Cell Biology and Medicine Evolution, Genetics, and Mathematics The Failed Marriage between Evolution and Sociology Cell Biology, Chemistry, and Genes Physics, Chemistry, and Genetics Genetics, Embryology, and Evolution The Rise of Genetic Engineering Computers and Biology 1 2 6 11 20 23 29 34 41 44 2 Literature, Culture, and Social Perceptions of Science Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus Evolution, Religion, and Schools Eugenics and Brave New World The Shape of Humans to Come— the Transhumans of Patricia Piccinini Silent Spring and the Rise of Environmental Movements Genetically Modified Crops and the Marketing of Science Cloned Dinosaurs and Invaders from Space 52 53 57 62 69 72 75 83 3 Studying Life in the Post-Genome Era Genotypes and Phenotypes Genomic Technologies Biodiversit