ABSTRACT
Jacques Monod, together with Francois Jacob and André Lwoff, was awarded the Nobel prize in 1965 for uncovering the secrets of gene regulation. The sensible use of genetic knowledge could help to prevent the exclusion of individuals with a genetic prediposition to certain illness from jobs and insurance cover. Similarly, it will ensure that the powerful new chip technology, with its unprecedented precision, is used wisely in prenatal diagnosis. The release of genetically engineered organisms into the environment is, at the time of writing, a topic of intense public discussion. What ‘the people’ actually think is by no means clear but self-proclaimed ‘environmental protection’ pressure groups, supported by sections of the press and broadcasting, exert constant political pressure against the production and use of genetically modified corps. Future historians may view the genetic revolution as the one of the most defining events in the history of mankind.
