Science--love it or hate it? A young scientist's view of the public relations problem of European science and the possible solutions.

Abstract

Up until World War II and for more than two decades afterwards, physics and its applications in war and technology were the natural science that caught the public's attention. Nevertheless, at the same time as the first atomic bomb was dropped, or while Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon, the basis for a novel natural science was being laid. Great minds, such as Salvador Luria, Max Delbruck, Francis Crick, Linus Pauling, James Watson and their fellows blended knowledge of genetics, biochemistry and organic chemistry into what today is called molecular biology. I am fortunate to live in a time when science is undergoing major development. Indeed, it is extraordinary to realise that we humans share half our genes with bananas or that less than 0.1% of our genome makes us unique individuals. Perhaps some readers may smile at my enthusiasm, but it will certainly change some people's attitude next time they eat a banana. And as we have the human genome sequence at hand, we may finally get a completely new image of ourselves and what makes us different from each other. And smokers can dream of the marvellous day when the nicotine mop‐up gene will be detected and used, bringing an end to nicotine gum and patches! > As a biologist, you sense the increasing unease in the public caused by every news‐breaking discovery and you start wondering how to overcome this At the same time, being a student of cell and molecular biology is not at all easy. Friends and relatives, even people who just happen to be around you when the latest biological discovery appears in the evening news, think that because you know the structure of DNA, you know the answers to every question they can come up with. And when you try to explain your ‘ignorance’, …