Plants, Patients and the Historian

God is dead. Thanks to the decoding of the human genome, the ‘word’ has been rendered into ‘flesh’ and ‘we can all be proud of our species as it closes in on this summit of self-knowledge’. Yet, the very architects of its decoding have also warned that ‘t. Provides a history of genetics in Britain from its inception as a science in the early years of the twentieth century. Seeks to examine the roots of these two paradoxical assessments of the decoding of the human genome. Explores the intersection of historiography, critical theory, and science and technology studies, aiming to reaffirm the inescapable presence and necessity of the 'Absolute.