2001 8212; A new odyssey

It was the year mankind was supposed to suffer the wages of a century and more of technological innovation. It was the year, the world as ...

It was the year mankind was supposed to suffer the wages of a century and more of technological innovation. It was the year, the world as we know it, was to have disappeared in a gigantic digital meltdown triggered by the Y2K computer bug. Instead 2000 delivered one of the most magical moments in contemporary science: The map of life. Flagging off the biotech century in right earnest, two competing teams 8212; one lavishly financed by rich governments and the other a private group working with a considerably smaller budget 8212; announced the decoding of the human genome way ahead of schedule. Predictably this at once conjured visions of a future unplagued by disease and disorder, but scientists warned that the map was just the beginning of a long and laborious investigation into billions of DNA sequences and that benefits were still some time away.

As researches continue their trek up the double helix, the contours of some of the ethical dilemmas of coming years are already visible. Cynics are screaming about a genetic underclass in the making, as the less financially endowed lose out in the race for designer babies and genetic makeovers. Some are still struggling to stomach the horrifying idea that genes can actually be patented. Yet others wonder at the consequences as man tiptoes into what they deem is the realm of God. But try telling that to the family of an Alzheimer8217;s victim. Try telling a poor farmer that the genetically modified seeds he seeks to sow to increase his yield or to cut back on pesticide costs would affect food integrity. Clearly the old rules have changed, the limits of intervention in nature8217;s code have to be worked out anew. And if the web of life is being redefined, so too is the World Wide Web changing the way millions communicate and interact. The Y2K apocalypse may have not materialised but worry lines have not quitedisappeared. While parents and teachers across the world are voicing concern about e-mail lingo wrecking their children8217;s writing skills, a larger number are contemplating the dynamics of being connected. It8217;s made the world a smaller place, the ever decreasing cost of communication has increased efficiency and facilitated a more beneficial global division of labour 8212; but the crippling viruses deposited in mailboxes in the past 12 months highlight Netizens8217; heightened vulnerability. For instance, when a young man in the Philippines encrypted destruction in his ILOVEYOU message, he at once spotlighted the yearnings and the monsters in cyberspace.

And with the year 2001 just days away, how can the prospects of another space odyssey be far? In June NASA scientists they now had the strongest proof that water actually Atilde;sup2;f40Atilde;sup3;flows on the surface of Mars. After the failure of a string of missions to the red planet, any reunion with possible little green Martians may not take place in a hurry, but the discovery completes a trail of clues to man8217;s changing perception of himself. Is he, in the end, just a sum of his genetic parts? How will the Internet influence the bonds, professional and personal, he forges? And is he alone in this vast, dark universe?