The future could be too much fun.

Professor Susan Greenfield (Director, Royal Institution), examines prospects offered by medical science and technology for greater control over our lives and minds. The range of genetic tests to detect hereditary diseases in the foetus is certain to increase, raising the question of how to distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable disabilities and traits. The brain is the subject of much research, including the highly publicised prospect of downloading human memory so that it could be transferred to someone else, and of implanting information. But what are the implications for identity? Memory consists of associations as well as facts. What would be the result of implanting a memory in a person who had not undergone the experiences that formed it? We do not know enough about the relationship between mind and brain to be confident of the results of altering the brain. Professor Greenfield urges that we should be aware of the wider picture. Achievements in various areas of genetics and brain science may be remarkable, but must always be related to their effects on the individual and on society.