O. Bentley


thoughtful plan which will enable us to enunciate a coherent policy for the
future. We must preserve a long-term perspective.


 CONCLUSION

 When I see the wonders and the opportunities and the challenges in
science that lie before us today, I experience a strong optimism about the
future of science. It's enough to make me wish I were a graduate student
again-unless, of course, I had to go back to washing my own test tubes.
 When Walt Disney created Disneyland, one of the four lands he imag-
ined was Tomorrowland. To him, Tomorrowland was full of rocket ships
and robots and travel to the planets. The future was outer space.
 You and I are fortunate, however, to be part of another future-the
inner space of biotechnology-the universe of the molecule-the galaxy of
the gene.
 For good or ill, not leaving well enough alone is what human nature is
all about. As part of mankind's eternal urge to dispel the darkness, we
continue to push at the boundaries of science and technology.
 Peter Raven, head of the Missouri Botanical Garden, was one of the
scientists who initially opposed the work done by Steven Lindow on "ice
minus." Now, in an article in the May 26 Newsweek, he says that while he
is "still concerned,' he supports the tests. "Without tests," he admits, "we
can't begin to evaluate the wider consequences."
 As Newsweek concludes, "Given the history of technology, it's possible
and perhaps likely that someday, someone will misuse genetic engineering
and create an environmental problem."
 But I'd like to close with botanist Raven's statement on the future: "To
pretend we're living in a pristine forest and say we shouldn't change any-
thing is absolutely absurd. In the end, using biotechnology to raise the
agricultural productivity of areas we've decided to cultivate may be the
best way to leave other parts of the world unaltered."
 I believe that we have within ourselves the strength and the spirit to deal
successfully with the challenges and the opportunities of biotechnology-if
we approach them with caution, vision, and sound science.