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 Today as never before innovation is a dominating force in daily life, spurring ever more rapid change. Globalization, the increasing mobility of people and ideas and the potential of science and its applications hold out both promise and challenges for a constantly evolving society. Hence the need to build an educational and training system that meets the needs of an economy that is increasingly based on human capital. At the same time, the industrial world faces the additional challenge of recasting social policies to take account of its aging population. Many responses to these needs could come from research, as shown by the new opportunities to enhance health and the quality of life offered by molecular biology. However, these very developments also raise questions and fears that could stifle progress in the field if an effort is not made to involve the public in a real, open debate. It is therefore essential that we focus our gaze on the horizons of development in order to identify risks and opportunities. This is the aim of the eighth edition of "Ten Nobels for the Future", the last of this century. |
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Genetics and Politics Ever since it was born, at the beginning of this century, genetics, the science of heredity, has attracted politicians’ attention. Very soon, it was clear that genes and chromosomes play in humans the same role as in animals and plants. But immediately and in the absence of any experimental argument, many people without hesitation did extrapolate from physical characters to a whole new sphere: the intellectual, moral and social properties of humans. Ever since that time, politicians and geneticists wonder what is the part of genetic determinism in human behaviour. In a series of debates on school, on psychiatry, on criminality, on the condition of the two sexes, two extreme positions are confronted which can be called "all genetics" and "virgin wax". Those supporting the "virgin wax" theory are often influenced by marxist ideology according to which the mind of the individual is entirely moulded by his social class and his education. The "all genetic" people, in contrast, often adhere to a conservative philosophy that underlies the various forms of racism and fascism. They like the hierarchy that exists in our societies and refuse to have it changed on any account. |
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