Engineering American society: the lesson of eugenics.
We stand at the threshold of a new century, with the whole human genome stretched out before us. Messages from science, the popular media, and the stock market suggest a world of seemingly limitless opportunities to improve human health and productivity. But at the turn of the last century, science and society faced a similar rush to exploit human genetics. The story of eugenics--humankind's first venture into a 'gene age'--holds a cautionary lesson for our current preoccupation with genes.
Micklos
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DNA Learning Centre, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbour, New York, USA. micklos@cshl.org
Carlson
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D005075:Biological Evolution; D005053:Eugenics / Q000266:history*; D005260:Female; D005826:Genetics, Medical; D015894:Genome, Human; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010375:Pedigree; D012945:Social Values; D014481:United States