246 



GENETICS AND PLANT BREEDING 



Bentlcv Glass 



Genetics in the Service of Man 



Reprinted with the permission of the pub- 

 hsher and author from The Johns Hopkins 

 Magazine 6(5):2-5, 12-16, 1955. 



Human power, which mounted 

 slowly indeed through the eons of pre- 

 histoty and somewhat more rapidly 

 after the advent of the sword and pen, 

 has gathered momentum with logarith- 

 mic sweep since the dawn of modern 

 science. Today it seems to be rocketing 

 into outer space with the incredible 

 energy of atomic fission. 



I would be the last to imply that 

 the principal value in the pursuit of 

 scientific knowledge is the ultilitarian 

 one— that society should nurture sci- 

 ence only because of its fruits. Yet the 

 fruits are of undeniable importance, 

 and before we eat, it might be well for 

 us to sec upon which side of the tree 

 of good and evil they are borne. Power, 

 especially unlimited power, can be 

 more danger than blessing, and what 

 foresight and intelligence we do pos- 

 sess ought to be exercised in safeguard- 

 ing and channeling it into wise uses. 

 Mankind was not prepared to use and 

 control nuclear power. Today we stand 



on the verge of biological discoveries 

 of an equally revolutionar\' and poten- 

 tially devastating kind, which it will 

 require all our wisdom to control. 



A century ago, when my grand- 

 father was born, the life expectancy of 

 the average male infant was forty years. 

 At the turn of the centur\', it was still 

 only forty-eight years; but by 1930 it 

 had jumped to fifty-nine years, and to- 

 day stands at the amazing average of 

 seventv years. Whatever we may think 

 about the wise use made of those extra 

 thirty years of life by the average Amer- 

 ican man, surely this achievement of 

 medicine and biology has been spec- 

 tacular. 



Without recounting here the sev- 

 eral steps in the advancement of health 

 and longevity, I wish merely to point 

 out that genetics has contributed its 

 share to this progress. You are certainly 

 aware of the tremendous role of penicil- 

 lin in virtually wiping out manv in- 

 fectious diseases. In the course of the 



