We are walking too quickly down the road to physical and psychological utopia without pausing to assess the potential damage to our humanity from this brave new ...

An expert in the field of social and biological ethics offers an analysis of the impact of scientists' ever-increasing knowledge of the genetic basis of life on family, society, and mortality.

This paper questions whether the application of the patent system to DNA sequences achieves its goals of stimulating innovation for the public good and rewarding people for useful new inventions. Even if DNA sequences are considered eligible for patenting, they must also be novel, inventive, and useful. The application of these criteria has not been stringently applied. In future, patents asserting rights over DNA sequences should become the exception rather than the norm.