Excerpt

The original DNA revolution indicated the nature of molecular storage of information in the cell and how this information is to be incorporated into specific protein molecules so that understanding was achieved of how the structural elements and machinery of the simplest living cell could be constructed. The next step, which is currently taking place, involves extending this understanding of enormously more complex organisms, which are characterized by possession of the phenomenon of differentiation.

Somatic cell genetics was invented to acquire the necessary information about the genetic structure and function of the complex organisms like the mammals. Together with the new approaches of recombinant DNA technology and new methods for analysis of the patterns of protein biosynthesis in the complex mammalian cells, many new levels of understanding are being achieved. At present, less than one-tenth of 1 percent of the individual biochemical pathways which make up the body’s metabolic chains have been identified. New general methods are now available which promise to unlock many or most of these critical pathways.

For the first time in history, a framework of conceptual understanding is being built to support and greatly extend the still largely empirical discipline of medicine. New promise for revolutionizing food supplies of the world appear at hand. Finally, application of cellular genetics and molecular biology to the nervous system is opening up new approaches to understanding of the mind.

These new powers could, if appropriately used, bring a new era of health and fulfillment to mankind. Scientists must see that this message reaches the peoples and governments of the planet. 

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