A Passion for DNA: Genes, Genomes, and Society

A principal architect and visionary of the new biology, a Nobel Prize-winner at 34 and best-selling author at 40 (The Double Helix), James D. Watson had the authority, flair, and courage to take an early and prominent role as commentator on the march of DNA science and its implications for society. In essays for publications large and small, and in lectures around the world, he delivered what were, in effect, dispatches from the front lines of the revolution. Outspoken and sparkling with ideas and opinions, a selection of them is collected for the first time in this volume. Their resonance with today's headlines is striking.

Preface

ix

Sources of the Essays

xi

Acknowledgments

xv

Introduction

xvii

Autobiographical Flights

Values from a Chicago Upbringing

3

(4)

Growing Up in the Phage Group

7

(10)

Minds That Live for Science

17

(6)

Early Speculations and Facts about RNA Templates

23

(10)

Bragg's Foreword to The Double Helix

33

(4)

Biographies: Luria, Hershey, and Pauling

37

(12)

Recombinant DNA Controversies

In Further Defense of DNA

49

(12)

Standing Up for Recombinant DNA

61

(10)

The Nobelist versus the Film Star

71

(4)

The DNA Biohazard Canard

75

(8)

Ethos of Science

Moving Toward the Clonal Man: Is This What We Want?

83

(8)

The Dissemination of Unpublished Information

91

(14)

Science and the American Scene

105

(4)

The Necessity for Some Academic Aloofness

109

(8)

Striving for Excellence

117

(6)

Succeeding in Science: Some Rules of Thumb

123

(4)

Rules for Graduates

127

(6)

War on Cancer

The Academic Community and Cancer Research

133

(10)

Maintaining High-Quality Cancer Research in a Zero-Sum Era

143

(8)

The Science for Beating Down Cancer

151

(16)

Societal Implications of the Human Genome Project

Moving on to Human DNA

167

(6)

Ethical Implications of the Human Genome Project

173

(10)

Genes and Politics

183

(30)

Five Days in Berlin

213

(14)

Good Gene, Bad Gene: What Is the Right Way to Fight the Tragedy of Genetic Disease?

227

(4)

Viewpoint: All for the Good---Why Genetic Engineering Must Soldier On

231

(4)

The Pursuit of Happiness

235

(4)

The Human Genome Revealed

239

(6)

Afterword: Envoi---DNA, Peace, and Laughter

245

(8)

Name Index

253

(6)

Subject Index

259

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A Passion for DNA: Genes, Genomes, and Society

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