immediately reproduced the image (Dibner 1963 : 23). Thefirst public demon-
stration followed in January of 1896.“Not only was this discovery in itself an
astonishing, bold and powerful tool released to the inquiring mind, but there also
was breadth of interest because herewas a means of probing the very body of every
living being”(Dibner 1963 : 28, emphasis added). The X-rays were soon applied in
the treatment of fractures and removal of gunshot, in dentistry, and in the diagnoses
of malignant tumors, arthritis, and calcium deposits. The inner workings of the
anatomical and physiological black box became visible in a new way.
Throughout the twentieth century, the ability to visualize and tap into the inner
workings of the human body became increasingly sophisticated. Obstetric ultra-
sound, developed in the 1950s, became a widespread method of viewing a fetus in
utero in the 1970s (Nicolson and Fleming 2013 ). Computed tomography (CT) , also
known as“CAT scanning” (computed axial tomography), also became widely
available in the 1970s (Cierniak 2011 ). Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI),
introduced in the 1980s, was probably the most important imaging advance after the
introduction of X-rays (Logothetis 2008 ), and functional MRI (fMRI) was a dra-
matic addition to the tools of cognitive neuroscience research in the early 1990s.
From the discovery of the double helix in 1953 (Pray 2008 ), to the completion of
the Human Genome Project in 2003, to the current possibility offinding a.pdf copy
of our genomes in our electronic medical records (Hazin et al. 2013 ), genetics has
revolutionized the search to understand the inner workings of the human body and
mind. The Human Genome Project was touted as “one of the great feats of
exploration in history—an inward voyage of discoveryrather than an outward
exploration of the planet or the cosmos” (http://www.genome.gov/10001772,
emphasis added). There was an expectation that mapping the human genome, and
giving people knowledge about their own genetic blueprint, would translate into
better health.
Along those lines, the genetic biobank 23andMe has collected DNA from more
than a million people seeking clues to their ancestry and their susceptibility to
disease. The company was founded with“a social mission to‘integrate genetic
information into the world’”and now has grown into a focus on research (Servick
2015 ). 23andMe can detect 650,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs—
relatively common variations in DNA base pairs); however, their research is cur-
rently limited to association studies which mark regions of the genome, rather than
the disease-influencing mutations themselves, and cannot explain how illness might
arise from a mutation (Servick 2015 ). One could argue that knowing one’s genes is
the ultimate step in making visible the invisible body; however, with very few
exceptions, genes are not oracles (Joyner and Paneth 2015 ). Knowledge of geno-
types can provide an estimate of disease probabilities, but the interpretation of
genetic data depends on the education of both healthcare providers and consumers
(Hazin et al. 2013 ). And, lifestyle and luck play a very large role in the outcome.
Once genes were mapped by the Human Genome Project, attention turned to
epigenetics, mapping genome-wide DNA methylation (the methylome) (McClay
et al. 2015 ; Rakyan et al. 2011 ). More recently, the BRAIN Initiative (Brain
Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies) has been proposed.
15 The Shrinking Black Box of Human Biology 315