Summary of the impact

John Dupré has been engaged in an intensive investigation of contemporary genomic science and its implications for policy, practice and public understanding. His research has been at the forefront of criticism of popular deterministic understandings of genetics, challenging public assumptions, and informing debates over the relevance of genomics/genetics to understandings of a wide range of issues of public concern, including health and illness, ideas of `human nature', `normality', and gender and `race', as well as philosophical issues like the possibility of free will. His research questioning both Darwin's idea of the `Tree of Life', and interpretations of human evolution in evolutionary psychology, has contributed to public discussion and understanding of evolution. In sum, Dupré's work has had an impact on media and public understandings of, and debates about, science, as well as on UK science policy.