From mice to rice to fruit flies to humans, complete maps of the genetic material of a growing number of species are being assembled by scientists. But this knowledge, important as the achievement of discovering it has been, is only the raw material for the next stage of biological understanding. Biology has great promise, but the history of the biotechnology industry is littered with unfulfilled promise. Technological problems should not be underestimated. Societal problems might be even more intractable.
Science is driven by curiosity, and pure science advances without much input from society.
The technological applications of science, however, are very much driven by social demands, and here there is often a lack of leadership, or a mismatch between the amount of regulation and the amount of risk. That is, there is nothing selecting modified plants to survive at a greater rate, and thus no reason to expect that they will reproduce any more than existing agricultural plants. But this message about the working of natural selection is very difficult to communicate to politicians and the public, even though it is bedrock science. Focus on the field's strengths Focus on consumer advantages 2. Avoid asymmetries Guard against centralization Increase global cooperation Ensure freedom Ensure dignity 3.