Wednesday, January 09, 2013

The Human Genome Project

In his new DNA USA: a genetic portrait of America (2012), Bryan Sykes remembers the hype around the Human Genome Project:
All you needed to know was the DNA sequence and everything would flow from that. This was pure hubris … ten years and billions of dollars later, the Human Genome Project has achieved very little as far as alleviating or even untangling the suffering caused by disease. The claims of ten years ago that we were about to witness the greatest medical advance since antibiotics have proved, thus far, to be thoroughly hollow.

Hm. Yes. I’m remembering the hooplah. Ten years ago, was it? Really.

Techno-hype. What else was going to completely upend the status quo? Personal computing? The paperless office? The internet? Twitter?

Revolutions.

Is that all there is? Then let’s keep dancing!

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