On the social responsibility of scientists.
The author outlines the history of genetics in the United States, looking at all the social and political implications of it, too often underestimated by the geneticists themselves. In contrast to physicists, who were forced to recognize the consequences of their role in the development of the atomic bomb and who openly carried a historical burden from their past, geneticists had no historical memory and were essentially ignorant of their own "atomic" history: the Eugenics movement in the first half of 20th century, which significantly affected social policy in the United State and Europe. Few geneticists, in fact, until recently, were aware of the Eugenics movement itself. It was only with the extreme misuse of genetics by German scientists and the Nazi Government that some English and US geneticists began to speak out more openly. The author sees in this lack of awareness the major responsibility of geneticists for the misrepresentation and misuse of science and also calls for a better interaction between scientists and those who work in other social fields; a communication gap between the two cultures holds dangers for us all.
Beckwith
J
J
Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
D005053:Eugenics; D005823:Genetics; D016045:Human Genome Project; D006801:Humans; D012941:Social Responsibility