The wonders of DNA

Towards the DNA age

Who would have thought that one day the scientific name of a complex biomolecule would ever become so popular that it is now more frequently used than the word “pizza” in the English language?  Yes, I am talking about DNA, which, according to the word frequency database,  is ranked 2852nd amongst the 5000 most frequently used words in the (American) English language while the word pizza figures at the 3956th position.

I think this is very representative of how the very discovery of DNA and the whole new set of narratives that comes with it have changed Western civilisation to the core: for the best or the worst we now seek DNA-based explanations for anything ranging from personality traits and physical abilities  to love, happiness and careers.  In term of analogy, I tend to think that DNA plays a role analogous to almighty…