Dr. Lander compared genome maps in biology to the periodic table of the elements in chemistry: "Biology is now becoming a finite field. There may be 100 thousand elements out there, but there are only 100 thousand elements. Once that finite list of genes is known, one has to explain all phenomena in terms of those building blocks." Dr. Lander stressed that the consequences for the next century of having the biological periodic table will be as profound practically and theoretically as having the chemical periodic table has been in this century. Increasingly, biology depends upon generic tools. "The unification of biology with other fields is resulting in a deep understanding, but also in the ability to create generic tools applicable to wide sets of problems." Why do generic tools increase learning exponentially? "The point to having periodic tables," Dr. Lander said, "is that we can take a global view of processes for the first time."

The first powerful generic tool in biology is thought to have been a discovery by a student in 1911. The student demonstrated that inheritance patterns were explainable in all sorts of mutants in fruit flies based on the hypothesis that they were distributable on the chromosome. Generic tools let the student build entire maps showing where genes were located. He constructed these maps without knowing anything about what genes were -- without even knowing what DNA was.

One type of generic tool currently under development at Stanford is the micro-array, which allows scientists to follow the expression patterns of multiple genes simultaneously. Stanford researchers are also beginning to work on the development of models that will be able to reproduce genetic behavior.

"The generic tool most needed now," Dr. Lander said, "is the ability to rewire genes." Once this is possible, researchers will be able to determine whether a gene has been under selection, how much variation is due to selection, and how much variation is due to random chance.

Explanations for the causes and processes of evolution, disease, and variation are all becoming approachable through the advent of genome maps. Dr. Lander listed questions that he hopes emerging scientists will consider up-for-grabs: What is the nature of mutation that causes disease? What is the nature of human variation? How variable is the human population at the DNA level? These questions, once answered, may lead to our discovery of the basis of evolutionary change.