After more than 40 years of parallel development,
the information and life sciences — computing and biology — are fusing
into a single, powerful force that is the foundation for the biotech century.
Increasingly, the computer used to decode,
62．______ manage and organize the vast amounts of
genetic information that will be raw resource of the new global
economy. The biotech century promises great riches:
genetically engineered plants and animal to feed a hungry population;
genetically 63．______ derived
sources of energy and fiber to build a renewable society; wonder drags and
genetic therapies to produce healthier babies, eliminate suffering and
extended human lifespan. But a question will
64．______ gaunt us: at what cost The new genetic
commerce raises more troubling issues than any economic revolution in
history. Will the artificial creation of cloned
65．______ and transgenic animals mean the end of nature and substitution of a
66．______ bio-industrial
world Will the mass release of thousands of genetically engineered life
forms into the environment cause catastrophic pollution and reversible damage
to the biosphere What are the consequences of
67．______ the world’s gene pool become patented intellectual
property, controlled 68．______ exclusively
by a handful of corporations What will it mean to live in a world where
babies are genetically engineered in the womb, and that
69．______ people are increasingly identified and
stereotyped on the basis of their genotype The debate is not
about the science but about how we apply them.
70．______ Until now the debate has engaged a very broad
group of molecular
71．______ biologists and government policy-makers, though the
biotech revolution affects us all. With the new technology flooding into
our lives, the moment has come for a much broader debate, one that
involves the whole society.