The Rise of the 'Biotechnosciences'

Leading-edge bioscience promised so much -- but did it really deliver? Renowned neuroscientist Steven Rose and sociologist Hilary Rose visit the RSA to tackle the claims of the bioscience industry head on.

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[SlackBruce]

Conclusion at 15:10. Excellent phrasing of the challenge to genetic determinism emerging from new insights into epigenetics and developmental science.

[TheWheatless]

It's interesting that there are even people in the first place who thought it would be as simple as "one gene, one condition." It doesn't take much study to realize the intense complexity of developmental history and the ways in which all our little parts interact to realize that something as complex as a mental disorder couldn't possibly be boiled down to one gene.

[haemolysis]

It's so common to hear academics be all "tutt tutt, silly idealists, this task was more difficult than you thought" but honestly, right from the start there has been extreme scepticism about the genome. This idea that it would "reveal everything" was always just media sensation, nothing more!

However! It is STILL a massive revolution, and YES "personalised medicine" IS real and being developed. Point in case: Gefitinib treatment for EGFR mutation. Why understate how revolutionary this is?

[tangent]

So.. he had a lot of failed hypotheses?