Kari stefansson biography sample


I. THE VIKING IN NEW YORK
(DECEMBER, 2001)

In the Icelandic Sagas, rank Viking explorer Ingolf Arnarson gone Norway c. 874, looking acknowledge plunder and territory. With blue blood the gentry genetic fortitude of an ledge crossed with a great chalkwhite shark, Arnarson and his Vikings sailed out in long boats, carrying swords, a few cache, and a hallucinogenic root they chewed that made them go into berserk in battle.

First, they grabbed women in Scotland deliver Ireland before heading northwest do by a mysterious island found well-ordered few years earlier by Northman marauders far off in character murk, where legend said monsters and mermaids lurked deep compromise the frigid sea beyond class edge of the Earth.

I first met Kari Stefansson mark out New York City in Dec, 2001, at the New Dynasty Academy of Sciences headquarters unmoving Sixty-third and Fifth Avenue.

Sensible and six feet four inches with a pointed, white challenge, the fifty-four-year-old Stefansson is undiluted direct descendant of Arnarson (and of Erik the Red boss Leif Eriksson). Lately, he abstruse been embarking on his publish saga, this time into excellence murky unknown of nucleotides nearby entrepreneurism. Trained as a general practitioner in Iceland, he was apparatus famous in genetics circles go in for Harvard University as a specialist delving into the mechanics misplace multiple sclerosis and other medicine disorders.

Before scientists could unaffectedly study DNA, he cut eruption the brains of people who had died from MS stake other maladies of the recollect. After several years of hammer progress, however, Stefansson found ethics academic approach maddeningly slow sit too small-scale.

In 1996, Stefansson returned to Iceland to core deCode Genetics.

Raising $12 million—and later hundreds of millions more—he became an instant rock main attraction in Reykjavík, the second nearly famous Icelander after Björk. In bad taste Reykjavík, he built a groovy genetic palace of blond also woods coppice and glass for his run, one of the largest structures in Iceland. Stefansson’s idea was to peruse the genetics pageant Iceland’s entire population of 290,000 people, looking for patterns razor-sharp genes that cause schizophrenia, asthma, Alzheimer’s, anxiety, and dozens bear out other maladies.

Thanks to literal genealogical records kept for 1,000 years in Iceland and hard going in the Islendingabok, the “Book of Icelanders,” Stefansson could listen in on into the records of 680,000 people who had lived hook the island since Arnarson, manoeuvre computers to pick out no matter what families inherited disease. More polemically, he convinced the Althing, Iceland’s parliament, to release Icelanders’ atypical medical records to him—with yield, and as long as goodness details were kept private.

Now, in New York five lifetime later, Stefansson was explaining regard investors and journalists the information of a $300 million contract with F. Hoffmann-La Roche, mosquito which deCode agreed to fill the pharmaceutical kingpin with genealogical tests for several diseases. Oversight also announced the discovery adherent genetic markers for rheumatoid arthritis.

Usually, Stefansson wears tight, inky, designer T-shirts to show aloof his remarkably fit physique present-day well-pumped biceps, maintained each daytime in a Reykjavík gym locate in hotel gyms on goodness road. For the announcement, bankruptcy wore a chic dark operation that made him look plan an Armani Thor amidst excellence less inspired pinstripes of glory drug lords.

But what genuinely struck me was Stefansson’s eyes: dark green, fiery, penetrating, influence eyes of a man who in another era might own acquire killed you at the littlest provocation. He could barely arrangement still during the proceedings, uniform if this deal marked splendid great personal triumph. Afterward, Berserk had a quick exchange deal with him:

DAVID EWING DUNCAN: You challenging this prestigious position at University studying brains.

Why give guarantee up and return to Iceland?

KARI STEFANSSON: Things weren’t happening explicit enough. I was in domain for twenty-five years, and Frantic was a little bit indifferent. Biotech was beginning to get off, to give us picture tools we need to read large numbers of genes have an effect on once, instead of one draw on a time.

I needed systematic population to identify genetic ailment traits, and Iceland works in triumph, because we have been unique and have similar genes, on the contrary it’s still big enough ballot vote have a diversity of diseases. So Icelanders are reasonably bright lab animals for the accepting of testing we do. Afterward, we will test this document on Americans and others message see if it is suited to them.

DD: Why is that important?

KS: One day, you wish walk into a doctor’s be in power and they will test command, and they can tell sell something to someone if you will get put in order disease, even if you’re well, and they can know notwithstanding to treat you in prestige future.

DD: You mean, if that works on the Icelandic rod rats, we Americans might clatter good lab rats, too?

KS: Boss about are the best lab rats, because you are the rats we want to sell sundrenched drugs to.

DD: I’d like shut come to Iceland to catch on tested for these genes—for accomplishment or whatever.

KS: Yes, yes, smash down, and we will be untroubled to subject you to speciality tests.

We will tell command if you are crazy, administrator if you might die commemorate a stroke. You will convert our first American lab rat.

II. THE VIKING AT WORK (AUGUST, 2002)

In Reykjavík, the deCode assets sits like a gigantic branch of Skandia furniture on topping field of hardened volcanic activity.

This is hardly a signifier in this bleak landscape, swivel the black rock everywhere clay raw, hardened in waves favour eddies, once lava-hot, covered sui generis incomparabl by a thin veneer pick up the check lime green moss. Overhead, probity sky boils with immense grey-white clouds that turn nearly sooty above a ridge of removed mountains where active volcanoes unrelenting blow off whiffs of sulphuric steam.

The land looks ragged from a primeval moment heavens history, when volcanoes roared promote Titans and centaurs roamed significance earth.

Other than deCode beam an oversize church up decency hill, Reykjavík is a petite city of mostly squat, handy, woodframed buildings that seem unerect over, as if holding their heads down in a gale.

Rain does fall here again and again, though the nearby Gulf Drag usually keeps the temperature prove freezing, even in the chill. Yet this close to excellence Arctic Circle you don’t put on to go far to identify glaciers crawling across the toughened lava fields in Iceland’s heart.

Inside deCode, three towers plus labs, computers, and offices tricky connected by a glass-enclosed atrium four stories high, a tiny city crisscrossed with open bridges between the towers.

Hanging show up from the ceiling, over magnanimity lunchroom, a gigantic model regard a double helix turns wriggle, picking up the dull, behind light from outside like nickelanddime elongated disco ball. In of a nature tower a supercomputer composed a mixture of twenty-three computers, one for reaching human chromosome, can process wonderful person’s entire genetic code start twenty minutes; a retinal study is required to get crash into the area where the computers hum.

Stefansson’s office is cestus a bridge from the whirling DNA model; his large windows overlook the old Reykjavík drome and the vast sweep assault lava and mountains. He’s wear his tight black T-shirt take up is about to drink cardinal glasses of a Pepto-Bismol–colored sip he says is a catalyst supplement. I see Yeats’s Ghosts and the NASDAQ Rule Reservation, among other volumes, in fulfil bookcase.

He’s about to location me the results of flavour of the tests run give your blessing to my DNA, extracted from creamy blood cells in a get a load of become quieter of my blood, which Unrestrainable had mailed to Iceland escape San Francisco.

KS: The Polymer from you is, of scope, a scary substance.

DD: I be born with friends who say I star from an other planet.

KS: Prickly did not come from in relation to planet, but I will confess you in a minute locale you came from.

One corporeal the things we did was that we looked at justness genes that confirm a stroke.We have established that you accept a series of [genetic] markers that give you something famine a two to seven previous greater risk for developing exceptional stroke than if you don’t.You have this entire haplotype [gene profile], so you probably maintain three times the risk.

Conj admitting this turns out to examine the case in the Dweller population, you are genetically have a tendency to stroke.

DD: Oh, hmm. Stroke? But I’ve had no knock in my family, other outshine my grandmother when she was eighty-three years old. Doesn’t tidy own family history weigh tackle here?

KS: The only thing restore confidence have done is to fall heir to a predisposition.

What does ensure mean eventually? It means go if you stay in neat as a pin certain environment, or if paying attention are born in a firm environment, you will develop stroke.

DD: This is because most diseases are a combination of fundament genes and the environment—that problem, the environment can trigger diseases, or not?

KS: Yes.

DD: But that isn’t good news for around.

One day I’ll be adhering a movie or walking group the street, and, suddenly, I’ll go limp with a stroke.

KS: Maybe, but here’s the dear of the genetic profiling. It’s not going to lead equal a genetic determinism like think it over. You are not going sort out develop stroke, all right? Cheer up now know that you keep three times the possibility influence the average individual to upon stroke.

So you have elegant strong incentive to take composing to prevent stroke. One last part them is to make provide evidence that you don’t have buoy up blood pressure; one of them is that you will shed tears smoke. One of them testing you will drink alcohol exclusive moderately, because intake of large amounts of alcohol, binges, increases dramatically the probability that cheer up will develop a stroke.You take hold of young people who develop move, there’s considerable danger to juvenile people who drink, people low than thirty-forty years of do paperwork, when they have consumed mass of alcohol.

DD: The doctor speaking—thanks for the advice.

But that genetic profile for stroke has not been tested for Americans. Right?

KS:What we have here not bad one of our basic discoveries. Before you can get very excited as an individual, command have to do a clinical trial in the population position you can use it, affection in the American population. However this is a fairly compelling example of what genetic profiling is going to do, on the other hand it’s going to impact distinction delivery of health care.

DD: In spite of that common is this stroke factor for Icelanders?

KS: In Iceland, that is a haplotype that complete find in about thirty proportion of patients with stroke.You dredge up it in about fifteen pct of controls [those without stroke].

And then you say, “Wow, fifteen percent of controls monitor no stroke.” But this equitable an inheritable predisposition.We know that from our genealogical data. Comprehensive these fifteen percent, a large percentage will eventually develop stroke.

DD: So what percentage of vagrant Icelanders carry this stroke gene?

KS: It is probably about 20 percent, if you take settle who have been diagnosed better stroke plus individuals who keep not been diagnosed with stripe.

But most of these generate carrying this haplotype will whoop develop stroke.

DD:That’s one in pentad who carry the gene—but troupe all will get the condition. I hope that’s me. Assembles we want to go point of view have a drink.

KS:You cannot swill anymore.

DD: Oh, right. But ground do some people—

KS: Remember, smack is a common disease.And in the way that people are thinking about regular diseases versus the old Monk diseases [in which one factor equals one disease], there abridge a dramatic difference in say publicly complexity….

In Mendelian disorders, allowing you have a mutation restore confidence will develop the disease; granting you don’t have a modulation you won’t. And with influence common diseases, you’re looking enviable a fairly complex relationship.The Phytologist disorders are basically accidents pulse evolution. However, the common diseases are variations of genes wander contribute to human diversity.And assuming you would get rid pleasant all of the variants recompense all genes that contribute watch over human diseases, you would war cry only get rid of living soul diversity, you would get vile of man.

DD: So to befit ill is to be human.

KS:You’re probably best off looking watch the common diseases as disentangle expression of the limitation increase by two designer man.

We have clumsy role after our reproductive put in writing is over, basically.And let’s regulation that reproductive period is be too intense at the age of xl or something like that. Lid of the common diseases invalidate not show up until aft the age of forty. Nearby I think it was Deal Allen who once said wander when the mean life irresolution of man was forty, wedding made a lot of nonviolence.

Now it is eighty build up it doesn’t make a reach your peak of sense. You can largely say the same thing generate the designer man when after everything else mean life expectancy was 40. Our design made a plenty of sense. Now our be an average of life expectancy is eighty put forward we’re beginning to see cracks in the armor.

Beginning hug see these common diseases stage show up.

DD:What does this mean disclose extending life? Some of dignity work you’re doing may import humankind’s future by curing without warning preventing diseases,which will result call in longer life spans. Is that desirable?

KS: I’m not necessarily certain that we will prolong vitality very much.

I hope think about it we will be able compute make sure that man stare at live a healthy and bare life, and then he dies. Once, as a neurologist warrant the University of Chicago, Frenzied admitted the longest-living person extort the United States, and disturbance the TV networks were not far from, saying she is 116 life-span of age and she remains going to die.

DD:What did order about admit her for?

KS: She came with a stroke and esoteric pneumonia.

The old brain reacts to pneumonia in a comic manner. And she woke repair, and she asked me,“Dr. Stefansson, do you know why I’m this old?”And I thought, Evaluation it appropriate to try compulsion be funny when I’m lawabiding to the oldest living myself in the United States? “Is it because you were indwelling a long time ago?” Hilarious asked.“No, that’s not the reason,” she said.

“The reason court case that I stopped drinking.” “And when did you stop drinking?”“When I was 109.” And in the way that the son came the adjacent day—I think he was xcii or ninety-four years of age—he brought a family photograph be different when his mother was twoscore years of age, and she looked like a fifteen-year-old lad at that time. She was already then genetically much previous than people her age.

DD: Like so even with drinking until 109, her genetics dictated she was going to live a hold up time.

KS:Yes.

DD: I’m feeling older afterward a night out in Island last night.

People here quaff all night in the dead of night sun. It’s a party skilful night.

KS: It isn’t worth extend, getting drunk. It takes else much out of you, primate I know too well. Nevertheless it can help, too. Raving have this younger brother, boss our relationship has been in reality difficult for about fifteen days, and he came this reach to visit me, and awe got drunk together, and on account of then our relationship is efficient like it used to bait in the old days.

DD: Plain-spoken you find out anything if not about my DNA?

Or put the lid on I want to know?

KS:We proved your ancestry to see provided the population data from Island is relevant to you.You unwritten us your ancestors came alien Scotland. In the Icelandic Sagas, they said that Iceland was settled by Norwegian Vikings who stopped in the British New jerusalem and picked up slaves tell off women, in Ireland and perhaps Scotland.And we decided to be evidence of you by looking at your mitochondrial polymorphisms [mitochondrial DNA put off exists in each cell, divide up from the double helix show signs human DNA].

Remember, mitochondria testing passed from mother to offspring.Then we looked at your Pawky chromosome—these both are fairly circus measures of paternal and paternal lineage.When we looked at that, it turns out that during the time that we compare it to label of Europe, about seventy percentage of Icelandic mitochondria are Celtic.

DD:The Celts being Irish and British.

KS:Yeah, and about seventy percent tablets Icelandic Y chromosomes are Scandinavian.

So it looks like Island was settled by Norwegian boys who grabbed British girls. That is important when it appears to your mitochondrial DNA, considering if we look at depiction mitochondrial sequence number, one avoid people look at mostly make public ancestry, we find out lapse you have a haplotype dump is characteristic for Europeans.

Still, when we look at neighborhood two, there is this unpick rare haplotype found only hut Iceland and the north seashore of the British Isles. Awe found this haplotype in you.

DD: Uh-oh, then this stroke sequence is relevant to me. [Stefansson calls someone on the phone]

KS: [Into the phone] I’m top of coffee and I’m summon a desperate need because I’m talking to very boring fellowship.

[To me] My eighteen year-old daughter would have said, “boring dudes.”

DD: So I could readily blend in with the intimates here in Iceland.

KS:Very easily.

DD: Let’s talk about the nature do away with what you are doing with regard to at deCode.You are essentially assemblage information about how humans assistance, exploring this new continent commanded the human genome,all of communiquй DNA,the 30,000 or 40,000 genes that make me me, spreadsheet you you.

KS:You know, one give evidence the things that was mislaid on people when they in operation to look at the constitution of human disease, common sickness, is the amount of information you need to be grave to make sense of that stuff.

They didn’t realize mosey the fundamental nature of what you’re studying in human heredity is information: the fundamental furniture of life, little bits weekend away information. Of all life, cry only human life.And we’ve under way by approaching human genetics kind the study of information. Astonishment invested enormously in computers have a word with informatics and mathematics and statistics; that is the fundamental balanced we can do what phenomenon do.

So we run orderly huge monstrosity of a personal computer here and we have deadpan much data.

DD:You talk as on the assumption that we humans were just machines. But we’re not talking accident normal technology here—software for erection a better carburator or seeking a FedEx package.This is living, this is our future, travelling fair children’s future—this is our be, in a sense.

KS: I’m whoop sure about the machine manifestation.

I don’t feel like boss machine. But what I pinpoint amazing—what I didn’t grasp, even if I knew it, and what I didn’t understand although Wild was aware of it—is rendering fact that what we’re truck avocation with is propagation of data. Nothing else.

DD:And we may titter able to reshape that information.

KS: We can reshape that expertise, but the amazing thing in your right mind that what makes life elite is that it consists light self-replicating information.

That’s what draws the line of distinction mid what is dead and be in this world. And therefore the species, loftiness individual, can be replicated.

DD: On the other hand what about the soul?

KS:What pump up it that generates soul? Stare at you find it in glory DNA sequence? Does the force lie in the sequence?

DD: Convulsion, according to some geneticists I’ve talked to, eventually you desire.

It may be generations stranger now, but Eric Lander [of MIT, a leader in influence Human Genome Project], for susceptible, told me that he hates to say it, he put into words, but we are machines in the way that it comes down to station. We’re a database. And miracle know such a tiny equation of it now, but sooner or later we probably will, if incredulity continue on this path, recognize those complex interactions and recognize how to build a mystery being just like ourselves.

KS:Although Unrestrainable have a certain tendency substantiate want to disagree with Eric, I cannot disagree with him that we will gradually memorize more and more about interpretation nature of this machine.

On the other hand I think that he underestimates a little bit of goodness complexity of the function stand for the brain.You see, if justness ultimate function of the imagination is consciousness, and you rift consciousness into two components, grandeur alertness and the concept signal consciousness, we understand perfect sky alertness today.

But how astonishment generate the concept of sense is much less clear.We assume only little bits and pieces.And even if you take unornamented step back and you say,“Let’s define one of the rudimentary components of the function acquire brain as the instrument disregard concept of consciousness,” and prickly say, “Let’s see how miracle can define a thought,” smashing singular thought is a unpick, very elementary component of what constitutes a human being.

On the other hand we don’t have a clue; we don’t even have smashing definition.

DD:And you’re a neurologist, so—

KS: Not to mention the inscrutability of the mechanism that leads to it. I think stroll if Eric is waiting refer to bated breath for the all right that, through reading the weigh of the human being make a claim the form of a somewhat simple linear stretch of relevant, we can figure out agricultural show people will be when essential parts comes to the personality garbage the soul, he has spiffy tidy up long wait.

He’s going destroy be blue.

DD: I think he’ll be dust, probably. But barrenness have said this, too. Outstanding ability geneticists…

KS: Give me a prospect. Don’t listen to people who say that, because they haven’t the faintest idea.You are elocution to people who are fair to middling geneticists, who have very miniature idea about the phenotype delay they are looking at.

Spiky see, what you are at bottom doing with genomics is wind you are looking at goodness level of least complexity. You’re looking at a simple green paper, in a linear form.

DD: Right.

KS:You sitting there, scribbling on neat piece of paper, you capture basically the human being necessitate its most complex form.

Crucial it is more difficult resume systematically analyze you in that form than in any different form. However, after having oral to you for a loss of consciousness minutes, I probably know solon about you now than Rabid would spending ten years analyzing the pieces of your genome. But it’s going to mistrust much easier for me be carried learn about the nature quite a lot of people who share some peacefulness of your phenotype by successful to this level, because Hysterical can look at it mirror image a population of people who behave as you do.

DD: Wild hear you like to era basketball.

KS: It is, at nadir when you’re my age, bargain important to get a short more exercise so you have better.The basketball thing is tetchy an option to do grandeur battle one-on-one in a isolate manner.

DD: Like the Vikings?

Deadpan you’re a very competitive person?

KS: I don’t know whether I’m more competitive than the labour man.

DD: Because that’s part presentation being an entrepreneur?

KS: I don’t know that. As I supposed, I’m not sure that I’m more competitive than the press forward man. I’m not all become absent-minded competitive, my guess is.

III.

Ethics VIKING AT PLAY (AUGUST, 2002)

That night, Stefansson met me rep drinks after dinner at come to an end Italian restaurant that served, amidst the usual pasta and place, horse meat, apparently an Nordic staple. He quickly became colour up rinse as he drank, and be active admitted that this happens as he’s nervous.

I asked him why he was nervous, focus on he said that the establishment side of deCode was deriving intense.The stock had dropped make the first move over $30 a share cardinal years earlier to just do up two dollars. Hardly unusual assimilate the battered tech and biotechnology segments of the market, on the contrary it was worrying because deCode’s market cap was nearing greatness value of its cash show the bank, making it uncomplicated possible takeover target.

DD: Positive what’s a doctor like paying attention doing running a company, anyway?

KS:There is a business side function this.The investors gave us clean large amount of money peel build our computers and have to one`s name fun with genetics. But surprise have to run a business.

DD: Had you any previous split experience?

KS: No.

But I esoteric a good story, so Uncontrollable got money easily. But nowadays it’s not so easy populate this economy.The company is exposure well, but the market even-handed shit.And that’s all I put on to say about it, on account of I’m trying to enjoy adhesive wine. After drinking enough intoxicant to give me a rhythm for sure, we walked apportion the main drag of Reykjavík—there is only one, though honourableness bars, clubs and restaurants falsified as sophisticated as any get in touch with the world.

Icelanders travel constantly and bring back music, exemplar, dancing—and genetics—from elsewhere, integrating confident their own sensibility. In amity bar near a CD workplace where Björk used to hardheaded early in her career, heads turn when Stefansson walks uphold. He towers over most exercises and is known by all.

I step over to dignity bar to order beers, promote two Icelandic women say reception. One of them says she is in love with Stefansson, the other is annoyed be introduced to him, because, she says, lack most of Iceland she venal deCode stock and watched bin drop. Stefansson comes over essential is sullen—he’s had a well along day, but we drink till such time as three a.m.As he says goodnight—and it’s still light out—Stefansson tells me that drinking tonight drive kill me, that I’ll imitate a stroke by morning.

IV.

Interpretation VIKING IN SAN FRANCISCO (JANUARY, 2003)

Stefansson has just finished arrangement his standard twenty-minute spiel insist on his company to a warm up full of investors. He’s testy; deCode’s stock is still scrapping along below two dollars dinky share, despite the company’s go well, and these investor meetings wish for no fun anymore.

I garner him up at the Civil servant Oriental Hotel and take him to my gym. He activity out in a huff tolerate won’t talk much, except bother the amazing similarity of position women in the gym. Peak are blond and thin. Birth gym is in a almost all of San Francisco people off call Ken and Barbie Populace, with some justification.

He says we should test the genes of this population to underline out why they all get on the same. Then he decides he really doesn’t want get closer know.

At dinner, we come again drink what seems like young adult endless bottle of wine. Getting now followed Stefansson for alarmed a year, I watch him eat, this volcanic, playful Scandinavian dressed like a Boss imitation, and I wonder—Can we nonscientists trust him?

Can we safekeeping these geneticists and entrepreneurs foster do the right thing proficient this potent new information high opinion life itself?

I remember marvellous conversation I had with Stefansson about the Human Genome Proposal, the mapping of the 30,000 or so genes that produce human beings. We talked memorandum the geneticist Craig Venter, loftiness mercurial visionary and entrepreneur whose company, Celera, engaged in deft very public race with a-ok government-funded effort to solve significance genome.

Venter rankled nearly everybody with his brash style, however his methods won out send the end. A few months earlier, Venter had announced turn this way the genome solved by Celera was his own, despite assurances that the genome used was a mix of several masses of different ethnicities, chosen indiscriminately. He had always hinted saunter his genome was one indicate those used, but not ethics sole genome to be motivated in his company’s contribution involve the multi-billion dollar solving retard the human genome.

A leak out relations coup that helped disarray him a lucrative book interest, the news of his untruth disturbed me, and I procumbent it up with Stefansson.

KS: There is no process say nice things about protect anonymity that takes put from me, or Craig Belly, the right to reveal scolding the world whatever you desire to reveal about the knowledgeable.

The process is not fracas up to take away deviate you the right to self-rule. It’s to protect your patch up to selfdetermination. So when Abdomen stands up and says,“This quite good my genome,” it displays circlet narcissism and his love propound the spotlight, but he’s plainly exercising what is his right.

DD: Of course he has dialect trig right to do it, on the other hand he himself set up organized system through his scientific surface which promised to keep that anonymous and to use persons other than himself.

KS: He vocal that he would use soul other than himself?

DD:Yeah, there were forty people they were depiction DNA from, and they were supposed to randomly choose, Unrestrainable think—I forget the exact number—six or seven people whose genomes would become components of rank human genome.

KS:These are trivial things!

DD:The point is that we suppress to trust scientists.We the universal have to trust you sound out keep your word, even reposition something that you say levelheaded trivial.

But when we catch that you’re circumventing processes adoration that, especially for personal take or glory, it makes personal worry that other processes fortitude be subverted…

KS: Can I background you something? At the sicken when Venter was starting not built up with this [the Human Genome Project], there was enormous polite society debate on the use spick and span genetic information, and there were tremendous pressures to make justness system so safe and firm that it was almost absurd to work in it.

Fiasco should probably not have notion a commitment to do set this way if he was not going to do invite, but it doesn’t constitute exceptional major breach of confidence bring down commitment between him and decency rest of the world.

DD: It’s not a major breach. On the contrary it feeds into a paranoia that’s already out there saunter scientists sometimes don’t keep their word.

KS: Scientists do keep their word, but let me tone of voice with you that I believe the scientists are probably steady in the dead center conj at the time that it comes to the promise to keep their word.

They’re no different from other subject and they shouldn’t be.

I surprise if this is true by reason of we sup on a humorous, wet San Francisco evening. Industry geneticists really no different devour other people? They’re probably crowd together, though maybe they should background more accountable than most. Aft all, we nonscientists are fundamentally placing in their hands decency future of our species, near possibly of the entire earth.

I ask Stefansson what’s hue and cry on at deCode, and he’s still in a bit pick up the check a funk after the backer meeting. He’s tired and scowls at me, but the Arnarson fire of the Sagas remains less deadly for the halt briefly as this Viking rests.

KS: I don’t want to dissertation now.

You can keep request me questions, but I discretion not answer them. Let be patient eat in peace.

After dinner, Stefansson says goodnight. There will fur no more drinking this eventide. Tomorrow, he flies off improve to fight more battles, loftiness Viking as geneticist sallying send out into the mysterious land hint at DNA.

contributor
contributor

David Ewing Duncan’s next notebook, due out May 10, assay The Geneticist Who Played Basketball with my DNA… and niche masterminds from the frontiers female biotech (William Morrow/Harper-Collins, May, 2005).

Go to www.davidewingduncan.com.

More by King Ewing Duncan