Future historians might well classify this week as typical of the early 21st century, in that there is a flurry of reports linking specific genes to human diseases, and at the same time there is a voice warning against seeing genetics as a "magic bullet," the solution to all our problems.
October's issue of Nature Genetics outlines the next stage in the Human Genome Project -- mapping all the genes predisposing us to common diseases -- and describes candidate genes for Crohn's disease (an inflammatory bowel disease affecting more than a million Americans). Another study in the same journal identifies the genetic causes for some forms of cleft lip and cleft palate. But it is a paper published in Nature today that will stimulate the most talk.
With the publication of "The Descent of Man" in 1871, Darwin really upset the Victorian apple cart. "Man," he said, "has an instinctive tendency to speak, as we see in the babble of our young children, while no child has an instinctive tendency to bake, brew or write."