Scientific developments have always been central to conceptions of society at particular historical moments. However, the rise of molecular biology and the new genetic knowledge in the twentieth century pose particular challenges to our notions of the individual, our sense of past and future, and our relationships with the body, nature and the family. As a number of authors have suggested, the meanings of 'life itself' may be in the process of subtle transformation and many of these reconfigurations are occurring more rapidly than our ability to fully grasp their social and cultural...