Genetics Quotes

“I'd lay down my life for two brothers or eight cousins.”

“The notion that the molecule that carries the genetic information, RNA, could also be a catalyst was a transformative idea.”

“One could in principle make a human being, which would be a great biological invention.”

“We did not know for a long time that there was an intermediary between DNA and protein, a messenger that is transient and that is used to translate the information.”

“The notion of a 'mixed' language is a fiction.”

“It is the failure to keep in mind the far-reaching consequences of this Mendelian principle of segregation of the germ-cells that has been responsible for the persistence of the fallacious doctrine of the inheritance of acquired characters.”

“Soon we will have the complete sequence of the human genome, but what will we do with it?”

“They used to say that a child conceived in love has a greater chance of happiness. They don't say that anymore.”

“The idea that we could change the human germ line was uppermost in our minds.”

“Any living cell carries with it the experience of a billion years of experimentation by its ancestors.”

“Chance plays a huge role in evolution, especially in small populations.”

“There is no gene for the human spirit.”

“The genes are shuffled and dealt anew to each individual. The result is that the offspring has a new combination of characters.”

“Only by a theory of the costs of meiosis and recombination can we hope to understand the ultimate function of sexual reproduction.”

“My blood is my father's blood. My DNA is my father's DNA. I'm a duplicate.”

“Genetics is going to be the basis of a new form of discrimination.”

“What is fascinating is the plasticity of the epigenome, especially during early development.”

“Homosexuals are somehow deficient. It's in their genes.”

“It opened up the whole field of molecular genetics.”

“We have the gene for fear, but what about the gene for courage?”