ABSTRACT
Introduction On Tuesday, 27 June 2000, newspapers and the electronic media around the world announced that the genetic code of human life has been cracked by molecular biologists. Francis Collins, director of the National Human Genome Research Institute in the United States is quoted on the front page of the New York Times as saying: ‘This is a milestone in biology unlike any other’. Unquestionably, this scientific breakthrough has profound implications for mankind’s war against disease. However, there are also profound worries on the part of some observers that this new knowledge may be a sort of Pandora’s box. Ironically, and despite the obvious implications of this research for our understanding of human behaviour, we are still far from realising the fundamental importance to the social sciences of the interaction of genes, physiology, consciousness and cognition, and of the vast potential of the life sciences to provide at least a cornerstone in a foundation for the social and behavioural sciences.
