Lewontin, R. C. "The Dream of the Human Genome." Gretchen Bender and Timothy Druckrey, eds. Culture on the Brink: Ideologies of Technology. Seattle: Bay Press, 1994, pp. 107-127.

R. C. Lewontin’s article "The Dream of the Human Genome" provides a survey of the state of research and writing on human genetics at this particular historical moment. Lewontin analyses the current debates by examining the tone and content of current writings and by analysing the political economy of the genetics industry. His goal is to challenge the basic assertion that we are fundamentally DNA driven and to counter the genetic determinism that is emerging around the project.

The Human Genome Project (HGP) touts its usefulness by promising the development of gene therapy, that is the routine replacement or "repair" of "bad" or "defective" genes. Lewontin argues that this research is hardly necessary since it is well documented that "the majority of the world’s population is suffering from one consequence or another of malnutrition and overwork" (116). He further criticises the HGP for its forays into eugenics.

The monetary interests of molecular geneticists is underlined and Lewontin declares that "No prominent molecular biologist of my acquaintance is without a financial stake in the biotechnology business (119); public policy necessarily reflects these conflicts of interest. Like most intellectual and technological developments introduced into badly divided societies, the HGP promises to increase the power gap between those who already have a great deal of power and those who have little; in addition it will generally add to the power of private institutions. Lewontin predicts that biological information may be used to discriminate in employment and further shift the responsibility of employment from employers to workers. He uses the current debates about the role of DNA in criminal prosecution, the so-called genetic fingerprint, as illustration of these trends.

See also Cooper, The Human Genome Project: Deciphering the Blueprint of Heredity; Keller, "Nature, Nurture, and the Human Genome Project," and Watson, "A Personal View of the Project."