Indeed, it was only in the closing remarks of Ruivenkamp that reference was made to the economic and political dimensions of biotechnology - an issue almost completely ignored in the conference proceedings. It is, surely, impossible to discuss the 'future of DNA' in any meaningful way without considering the socio-economic context in which gene technology is promoted and increasingly applied. For example, the dynamics of biotechnological innovation in medicine and agriculture, and the ways in which governments are responding with regulatory controls, are certain to have critical impacts on the economies of less developed countries. Moreover, environmental effects of GM crops might not only pose risks to ecological sustainability but also to the autonomy of organic farmers and their customers, in terms of so-called 'genetic pollution'. It is unfortunate that such issues, and others, did not receive systematic attention during the conference.
Some comments are necessary concerning the editing and presentation of the book.
An English publication of a conference in which the majority of contributors are not native English speakers clearly presents a significant editorial problem, because there is a natural reticence to edit out unorthodox phraseology where its meaning is clear. However, such licence can be too generous, and becomes a positive distraction when it allows major grammatical inexactitudes. Unfortunately, the text is riddled with such errors, which are charming at first encounter, but ultimately irritating. Some lack of detail is also a little perplexing. The styles of reporting of workshop proceedings differ substantially but we are given no indication of the contributions to discussion made by individuals, or, apart from the named speakers, of those attending the conference as a whole.