PR for the "Book of Life"

Scientists as well as financial analysts caution that gene therapies may never come to fruition. If they do, they will be probably useful only for a handful of rare diseases. A Motley Fool financial columnist tells millions of readers, "There's no reason why the average investor should be invested in biotechnology companies. None." Today's biotech firms are largely showing bottom lines more akin to failed dot-coms than the next Microsoft, but they are hyping themselves as the next technological revolution through glitzy and well-covered extravaganzas like "Paradise Now" (a genetically themed art show now in the midst of a national tour) and "The Genomic Revolution," an exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History's which claims, "By the year 2020 it is highly possible that the average human life span will be increased by 50 percent; gene therapy will make most common surgery of today obsolete; and we will be able to genetically enhance our capacity for memory."