Message from the Director
The Genome Revolution
Huntington F. Willard, PhD
The history of science is marked by periodic revolutions – major paradigm shifts that, either quickly or slowly, change the way science is performed, expand the range and immediacy of its applications, and deepen its impact on society at large. The most profound revolutions have a transforming quality; they change not only science and society, but also how we view our place in the world.
"In considering the implications of the human genome project and Duke's particular response to its scientific opportunities and social challenges, we have come to use the term "Genome Revolution". "Science has brought us Copernicus, Newton, the Curies, the nuclear age, the space age, the agricultural revolution and even the sexual revolution. (OK, the last one wasn't all science, but it was a revolution nonetheless…) Each of these has effected pervasive social change, but also raised a host of new concerns and problems to be confronted and pondered.
In considering the implications of the human genome project and Duke's particular response to its scientific opportunities and social challenges, we have come to use the term "Genome Revolution". It's worth considering what we mean by this phrase, viewed through the lens of previous scientific revolutions.
In my view, the Industrial Revolution offers the most potent and salient lessons to those of us experiencing the Genome Revolution for at least two reasons. First, the Industrial Revolution signaled a profound change for society. Over a 200-year period beginning around 1700, industrialization spawned urban life where before it had been agrarian. The Industrial Revolution was ubiquitous. One need only tick off a partial list of inventions and discoveries to begin to get a sense of the seismic changes that arrived in that period, from the steam engine and its progeny (the steam locomotive and steamboat), to the cotton gin, Fox Talbot's photographs, Morse Code, the sewing machine, fermentation, the telephone, Edison's phonograph and incandescent lamp, the Brooklyn Bridge, radio and aspirin.
What is most remarkable, even from this abbreviated list, is the breadth of innovation that took place. Similarly, we have little doubt that the Genome Revolution's impact will span just about every facet of human activity.
Second, the Industrial Revolution gave rise to a myriad of new concerns for society: overcrowding, inhumane working conditions, child labor, poor hygiene, urban poverty. Innovation always has the potential for abuse, and even what most people might perceive to be good—or at least benign—uses of technology can arouse resentment, anger and mistrust. Had we thought our families' welfare depended on it, we might have had no compunction about smashing a few machines as the Luddites did in 1811. People's perceptions of technology vary widely, and their feelings can run deep. Today's parallels? Gene therapy, cloning, playing God, stem cells, genetically modified foods – all have raised (and contin- ue to raise) the ire of at least a few and often many.
Will the Genome Revolution represent a true paradigm shift for society on the scale of the Industrial Revolution? We can't pretend to know definitively, but it is clear that the proliferation of genomic data and technology, though just beginning, is already being felt. Already, forensic DNA analysis has transformed the criminal justice system; defense lawyers have championed the tool as a means for finding their clients innocent while prosecutors see it as a way to put away the bad guys. Civil libertarians are up in arms at the prospect of government-controlled DNA banks. Elsewhere, we know that gene profiling in cancer can affect treatment decisions, while relative success in containing the SARS virus owes a lot to genome sciences. DNA technology has also made inroads into agriculture, business, religion, politics, philosophy, even the arts and popular culture.
And yet, as scientific revolutions go, the Genome Revolution is just warming up. When did it begin? The discovery of Mendel's laws (1900)? The first use of the term "gene"(1909)? Watson and Crick (1953)? Collins and Venter (2001)? Take your pick. My own sense is that we can trace the roots of this revolution to Charles Darwin in 1859. Our view of the universe and our place in it surely changed as profoundly at that moment in time as at any time before or since. And some are still wrestling with the implications of his theory of evolution for theology and education.
How long will this revolution take? Probably a long time. Thirty years ago many thought we would have colonized the moon and Mars by now, and, despite recent attention, it seems unlikely that that will have happened even thirty years from today. True scientific revolutions require generations before their effects can be universally felt or measured.
But unlike those who lived at the dawn of the Copernican or Industrial Revolutions, we have the advantage of knowing that we are standing on the precipice of something enormous. That enormity – the ability to understand and manipulate every organism's genetic material – has the potential to fundamentally alter our view of the world and our place in it. It is an exciting and exhilarating time, fraught with peril and potential. Darwin would enjoy it.
Huntington F. Willard
Director