Official journal of the International Society Revue officielle de la ...

Vesalius, VI, 2, 136-150, 2000change, which have implications not only for the world at large, but for our Society in particular. The Trinity of Change I shouldlike to consider here are the information and electronic revolution, the genome miracle and globalization. All these have andwill continue to influence our world, and if their benefits can be used properly, will aid in strengthening our purpose as wellas that of our society. I have already alluded to first of these, for what survivor of the millenium celebrations can dispute thatwe live in the electronic and informational age.How marvelous it would have been to the founders of our Society to have been able from their salons in Europe to watchas the world successively lighted the buildings of its most important cities. How amazed they would have been tocommunicate with their fellow members instantaneously through the media available to us. In the past four years we havetransformed the communication among members within the Society and at the same time have greatly expanded our outreachto those who are striving toward similar goals, but are not affiliated with us. Most of the members of our ExecutiveCommittee are now in constant communication with each other through the medium of electronic mail. This innovation hasenabled us to understand each other better and to organize meetings, and share opinions weekly if not daily. Although thespouses of the various Council members may not agree, the benefit of immediate communication to the Society'sadministration is clearly manifest and needs no further explanation. We can reach you almost anytime !!!! Among theelectronic tools which are now available to our members as well as to all persons world-wide who are interested in the Historyof Medicine, are our server and our web page. Owing to the innovation and constant work of our fine member, Professor PlinioPrioreschi of Creighton University, the Society now sponsors a Listserv. This medium for exchanging information on topicsin the history of medicine has attracted the interest of many who previously had no knowledge of the ISHM.For those of us who receive the wealth of information that Dr. Prioreschi mounts almost daily on his e-mail based on-lineforum, it has proved to be a stimulating resource for current news, and ideas. Another innovation is our ISHM homepage onthe World Wide Web which Mr. Russell Johnson the Archivist for the History and Special Collections Division of the UCLABiomedical Library has mounted and presently maintains. Now under the aegis of the Bibliotheque Interuniversitaire deMedecine we shall expand our website thanks to the good services of our Secretary General, Dr. Alain Lellouch. The effortsof these three exceptional men, and although only one is present here today, to the international presence of the Society havebeen outstanding, and although two are not present here today, I am sure you will want to join me in thanking them for theirenormous contributions to the Society. Please note that the addresses to both of these Internet resources can be found inour Journal Vesalius as well on the preliminary announcement for our next Congress. Surely if the purpose of our Societyis, as I believe, to reach out to all persons throughout the world who are interested in the study of the history of medicine,these electronic tools are a tremendous step toward our goal. We must never forget, however, the importance of humaninteraction which is integral to the learning process. This is the reason for Congresses such as this one, and why we mustcontinue to encourage and foster seminars and local meetings throughout the world. I shall return to this topic a little later,but for now let us consider what has been termed the Genome Miracle. The secret of life, the DNA sequence in the humanmolecule has been unraveled . Knowing the basic structure of the human genome brings us into an entirely new era ofmedicine. In the last decade, the genes for some major diseases such as muscular dystrophy and Huntington's chorea havebeen identified. Within a few years, perhaps, a detailed and complete human parts list may become available. Thus moderngenetics promises new cures and new therapies, but they also present new threats.For when the entire human genetic map is known, physicians in order to use it will have access to their patient's personal geneticcodes. But will it end there ? Once it is possible for medical practitioners to make use of an individual's genetic profile, will otherssuch as employers and insurance companies also demand equal access ? The core issue of «genetic privacy» will face us all.Thus genetic research has opened the door to a brave new world. Those of us who have spent our lives considering the problemshealth care professionals have faced in the past, have an important role in helping to find solutions to these new quandaries.As the single international organization devoted to the study of the history of medicine, the ISHM has vital role to play in thisprocess. The genie is out of the bottle. No one can put him back in, but using the experiences of the ages, we may help in findingproper solutions to the problems presented by his sudden and overwhelming manifestation.The third phenomenon characteristic of our changing world is globalization, which some define as the lowering of acceptedstandards to a universal common denominator. Our French colleagues perhaps are most aware of this trend and especiallyto the battle against certain aspects of it mounted in France. The symbol of this resistance is surely Jose Bove and hisadherents at Millau who inveigh against the use of genetically modified grain to feed hormone fattened beef as well as theubiquity of McDonald burgers. Even the adventures of the comic strip hero, Asterix have been interpreted as a struggle bythe clever, invincible Gauls to defend the hexagon against early Roman attempts at globalization.We often tend forget that some of the films that our children and grandchildren adore, and that we find senselessly vulgar,cruel and violent had classical antecedents. Catullus, the Roman poet wrote in the first century B.C. « Oh this age, Howtasteless and ill-bred it is!». Anyone who has looked into his works would probably agree he was probably not complaining,but rather reveling in some of the rudest scatological material the Western world has ever known. His comment should makeus realize, however, though that globalization may spread certain problems further and more quickly, it is not the root causeof much of what we deplore in our changing world.Modern technology has made our world much smaller. Globalization is the natural and inevitable consequence of that fact,and properly used , can confer certain very important benefits to our discipline, and to our Society. The history of medicine138