been predicted. It is not the only perspective. There's a social aspect to biotechnology, and there the evidence is more equivocal.

Biotechnology grew initially out of the desire of scientists to find out how the world works. Facts about genetic structure and the mechanisms of genetic control were first discovered by university researchers pursuing their scientific curiosity about nature. Their goals were to know such things as why one cell is different from another, or how DNA replicates itself. Probably few if any of those who laid the basic groundwork were motivated by thoughts of using microbes to make drugs.

The context in which most biotechnology research is conducted, however, is very different. Biotechnology is first and foremost a commercial activity—a reality that largely determines the priorities and goals of what is investigated and how it is applied. While the world at large may lack adequate vaccines, food, and pollution control, the focus of biotechnology companies is profit, not philanthropy. The large sums of money needed for research ensure that products with maximum profit potential get priority for development. As Canadian science broadcaster David Suzuki put it in an interview: "Biotechnology research serves the desires of the rich rather than the needs of humanity."

A good example of the confusing links between pure and applied research, and between economics and ethics, came into the news as this book was being prepared for printing. The successful creation of a healthy lamb cloned from the udder cells of an adult sheep (announced in February, 1997) caused astonishment even among many biologists and prompted a host of alarming comments about the prospect of cloning humans.