But we will have to move back from the general to the particular, because each gene is a story in itself and its full significance can be learned only from concentrating on its particular properties. Fourth , we need to turn our new genomic information into an engine of pharmaceutical discovery. Individual humans differ from one another by about one base pair per thousand. They can also provide information about our personal responses to medicines in this way, the pharmaceutical industry will get new targets and new tools to sharpen drug specificity. Moreover, the analysis of SNPs will provide us with the power to uncover the genetic basis of our individual capabilities such as mathematical ability, memory, physical coordination, and even, perhaps, creativity.
Biology today enters a new era, mainly with a new methodology for answering old questions.
As these and other questions get robust answers, biology will become an engine of transformation of our society. Instead of guessing about how we differ one from another, we will understand and be able to tailor our life experiences to our inheritance. We will also be able, to some extent, to control that inheritance. We are creating a world in which it will be imperative for each individual person to have sufficient scientific literacy to understand the new riches of knowledge, so that we can apply them wisely.