Researchers think they are about to deliver some answers.
When they do, they could change the world of medicine as profoundly as Copernicus transformed astronomy or Pasteur redirected biology and agriculture. But this new world of genetic science is proving a crowded one. Researchers and entrepreneurs, engaged in a high-stakes race, are pushing and shoving to conquer the new frontier. It's as if, three years after Columbus discovered America, the land already ran thick with explorers, homesteaders, and Gold Rush entrepreneurs all looking to stake their claim. Amid the elbowing and jostling, some researchers worry that the technology of genetic discovery has far outrun the public's ability to deal with the thicket of ethical issues it will create.