Vote for DNA
The medical journal BMJ has a poll asking readers to vote for what they think is “the single most important” medical advance since BMJ’s launch in 1840. The discovery of the structure of DNA is among the 15 selected by experts to make the final cut. Others include anaesthesia, computer, and vaccines.
John Burn, medical director and head of the Institute of Human Genetics, Centre for Life, Newcastle upon Tyne, made the argument as to why we should vote for the discovery of structure of DNA: the best is yet to come.
If the competition to determine the 15 greatest medical milestones was judged on the basis of international recognition, then DNA, the ultimate in three letter acronyms, would easily win the prize. Indeed, as the greatest scientific discovery of the past millennium, the elucidation of the structure of DNA would rank very highly, if not first. Surely, then, a competition that focuses on 166 years of medicine would be a pushover—or perhaps not. For the effects of the discovery of the structure of DNA have yet to reachw their peak. Once they have, the case for DNA will be unanswerably strong.
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Tags: bmj, british medical journal, medical milestones, medicine, genetics, genes, dna, diseases, illness, health
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POSTED IN: General Genetics and Health
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1 opinion for Vote for DNA
Genetics and Health » BMJ Medical Milestone Winner
Jan 18, 2007 at 7:00 pm
[…] We lost. No, we actually won. All of us have enjoyed a much healthier life because of sanitation, the winner of the BMJ online poll asking people to vote for the most important medical advance since 1840. Sanitation wo with 15.8% of the votes. Here are the runners-up: […]
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