Genetics and the future of man

Abstract

It is well known that all living organisms manifest among themselves certain basic similarities as well as particular individual differences. Furthermore it is a known fact that living organism inherits some of their own particular characteristics from their parents – a feature usually referred to as biological inheritance or heredity. The scope of genetics has along the years increased considerably with research being carried out in diverse fields. This speech outlines the major historical achievements in this branch of biological science focusing on those aspects of genetics which are of greatest importance in human disease and which would seem to offer particularly interesting prospects for the future