ABSTRACT
The genie of discovery, the manipulator and controller of genetic information we find has been liberated. Humans and the environment are in peril, and this is no Aladdin fantasy. If the primary aim of genetic research is to prevent cancer, it is essential to link gene abnormalities to cancer-causing agents. Without identification of various carcinogenic stimuli capable of setting in motion the dysfunction of the p53 gene. It is unlikely that the magic bullet of gene identification for cancer will be more than an expensive laboratory technique. Media attention to the breast cancer gene from cover stories in mainstream magazines to articles in scientific journals brings false hope to many women, and may well cost them considerable money in a futile quest. In other words, it is a gene that ought to repair cellular genetic damage, but, because it has been altered, it no longer functions as it was intended.
