New from the National Research Council:

Now more than ever, biology has the potential to contribute practical solutions to many of the major challenges confronting the United States and the world. A New Biology for the 21st Century recommends that a "New Biology" approach--one that depends on greater integration within biology, and closer collaboration with physical, computational, and earth scientists, mathematicians and engineers--be used to find solutions to four key societal needs: sustainable food production, ecosystem restoration, optimized biofuel production, and improvement in human health. The approach calls for a coordinated effort to leverage resources across the federal, private, and academic sectors to help meet challenges and improve the return on life science research in general.

Freeman Dyson:

Now, after three billion years, the Darwinian interlude is over.

Jay Keasling:

We have got to the point in human history where we simply do not have to accept what nature has given us.

Decius:

I've gotten old enough that I now understand why adults seek to escape reality. Paradoxically, I think I was better at escaping reality when I was younger.

Dyson:

When children start to play with real genes, evolution as we know it will change forever.

A New Biology for the 21st Century: Ensuring the United States Leads the Coming Biology Revolution