We are living through one of the greatest scientific revolutions in history: the “information revolution” in genetics. The revolution is leading to a deep understanding of biological processes and is uncovering the molecular basis of many human diseases and susceptibilities. It is also confronting society with a vast array of choices, and presenting each individual with the question of what knowledge to seek and how to act on that knowledge, My purpose is to discuss the scientific foundations of this revolution and to foreshadow its consequences.

The current scientific revolution has perhaps one appropriate historical precedent: the chemical revolution that followed Dmitri Mendeleev's key insight in 1869 that the elements could be organized in a simple periodic table.