Shaping the Future of Life

Others Who Stood In The Spotlight

Though they seldom command the daily headlines, scientists by their deeds sometimes possess the potential for the greatest impact upon the world's future. Consider such works as the green revolution, the transistor, antibiotics, computers: in the past few decades, all emerged rapidly and unexpectedly to alter the course of civilization. Last year a new technology, perhaps the most startling yet created by science, came of age: genetic engineering, the ability to alter the basic stuff of life.

No individual scientist symbolized the new maturity of this arcane art more than Herbert Boyer, 44, a curly-topped, rumpled-looking biochemist...

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