The Doctrine of DNA: Biology as Ideology

In this book R. C. Lewontin, one of the world's leading geneticists, provides a thought-provoking overview of both the successes and limitations of modern biology, making a powerful challenge to the increasingly orthodox claim that all of human existence is controlled by our DNA. He questions the assumptions that have been made based on this belief and its influence on the direction of biological research, in particular the Human Genome Project, which seeks to determine the complete DNA sequence that makes up human genes.
He shows how the ideology of biological determinism has been used to explain and justify inequalities within and between societies and to claim that those inequalities can never be changed, often presenting simple economic relationships as facts of nature. Equally, social and economic factors can exert powerful influences on biological research; for example, the widespread introduction of hybrid corn has been as much a result of the huge profits this generated through agribusiness as it has been of real benefits in yields. Only by adopting a reasonable scepticism towards the sweeping claims that have been made of the benefits to humankind of modern science will we begin to understand its real value as well as its limitations.