Since Crick and Watson uncovered the secrets of the laws that govern inheritance - the base-pairing rules of DNA - there has been an explosion of knowledge and with it the subsequent debate on the ethics and legalities of this knowledge and its practical applications. According to Pollack, DNA should be seen as a work of great natural literature, a three billion year old, continuously evolving text, which can provide instruction for all living things. However, Pollack also argues that if we fail to achieve an understanding of the multiple meanings of DNA we risk disaster.