26 THE STUFF OF LIFE
f blueprints.
Furtence of a clutcer control genes, eacingt of a section of tic (from a Greek icalDNA, knoo do—t tretc of ting is t instruct t for all organisms in muche same way.
Interestingly, t of genetic material and is organized doesn’t necessarily, oreven generally, reflect tication of ture t contains it. e y-six c some ferns evolved of all complex animals, y times as muc is more genetically splendorous tor of five.
Clearly it is not t aken a big lately. Until recently it t least 100,000 genes, possibly a good many more, but tnumber ically reduced by t results of t, t came as botment.
It tention t genes ed in anynumber of ies. Exultant scientists various times declared toy, scy, criminality,violence, alcoing and erminism udy publisending tically inferior at matics. In fact, notyou is so accommodatingly simple.
ty in one important sense, for if you determined or propensity to diabetes or to baldness or any otinguisrait, t ively easy anyo isolate and tinker unately, ty-five tioning independently is not nearly enougo produce ty t makes a satisfactory cooperate. A feon’s disease, andcystic fibrosis, for example—are caused by lone dysfunctional genes, but as a rule disruptivegenes are by natural selection long before tlytroublesome to a species or population. For t part our fate and comfort—and even oureye color—are determined not by individual genes but by complexes of genes ’s all fits toget beproducing designer babies anytime