| Summary: | Genetics will be one of the vital enabling technologies of the 21st century. Developments in genetics will undergird many scientific and technological areas and societal functions, including health and medicine, food and agriculture, nanotechnology, and manufacturing. The increasing public interest in genetics is linked to the growing realization that humanity is able to directly shape the evolution of its own and other species. Genetic diseases, for example, which might take centuries for natural selection to eliminate, could be done away with in decades through genetic manipulation. The implications of genetics for species management, industry, global development, human health, the economy, and human destiny are discussed.
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