Bill Clinton, describing the Human Genome Project and the mapping of human DNA in 2000 and successfully completed just three years later, said "today we are learning the language in which God created life. It will revolutionize the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of most, if not all, human diseases." But while we have identified some diseases that have direct genetic markers, we have not found genes responsible for the great majority of common conditions. Nor have we found widespread genetic cures. Moreover the initial research focused not only on those predominantly of European descent, but largely from a single American individual, making its predictions unreliable and in some instances dangerous and life-threatening.

Should we challenge the idea that genes are a blueprint for life and disease? Is the reality that other factors are responsible for our health and abilities? Will we be able to deliver on the initial promise of the Genome Project and claims to end disease or is the dream in fact a mirage? Richard Dawkins' critic and dissertation examiner, Oxford biologist Denis Noble, award-winning biologist Stuart Kauffman, and psychiatrist Joanna Moncrieff debate life's blueprint.