5-6 June "The fiendlike skill we display in the invention of all manner of death-dealing engines, the vindictiveness with which we carry on wars, and the misery and desolation that follow in their train, are enough in themselves to distinguish the white civilized man as the most ferocious animal on the face of the earth". A century and a half after Herman Melville wrote these words in Typee, further instruments of doom are being added to the white civilized man’s burden, many of which are commonly related to scientific and technological breakthroughs. Misfortune tellers are having a field day predicting the worst-ever millennium and exploiting the threats posed by the swift change we now experience. There are, however, rational ways of apprehending the future and its dangers, of mapping the patterns elicited from past history and today’s trends, as well as the emergence of new opportunities. Rationality alone is not enough to allay fin de millénaire gloom, but it helps. The ten Nobel Laureates and the international experts invited in Milan are asked to act as "mankind’s civil servants" - as Husserl, who was one of them, said - and to reflect upon what lies ahead.

The Future of Genetic Research Saturday 6 December 1997 In order to predict the future we must first cast our gaze on the evolution of science to the present day. This experience suggests that extremely important developments will occur in two fields: genetics and the neurosciences. I will focus on genetics, a field that will be influenced by the progress made within the framework of the Human Genome Project, which has paved the way for the identification of all the genes of any species whatsoever. The most important task once a gene has been identified will be to determine its function. To do this, we must learn more about the properties of the molecules that express genetic functions: proteins. Understanding how these work will allow us to develop new therapies, with cancer treatment being one of the areas most likely to benefit from this research. Recent developments will soon allow us to identify with great accuracy the genes responsible for cancer and, on this foundation, create new and more rational therapies.