Genotypes and phenotypes, loci and foci —
these are the things that science is made of.
Joes and Bloggs, and odds and sods —
these are the things the public is made of.
Boffins and toffs, presenters and hacks
punt to the punters their digital lines,
deleting their errors, translating results
from test tube to mouse, to the man in the house.
And it's all in the name of human advancement,
the right to convenience, the pay in the packs,
the frontiers unbounded, the oceans unsounded,
the ivory towers, the grants in their pants.
For the man in the street is just one in a crowd
and his voice, as you've heard, is increasingly loud.
And the street is the lab, and the man in your view,
and the funder, the funded, the outcome are you.
- © British Journal of General Practice, 2004.