[Practical aspects of mutagenesis--today and later].

The struggle of medicine and biology with the phenomenon mutation is discussed from a philosophical (C. BRESCH: "Zwischenstufe Leben") and a practical point of view. In the beginning age of the intellectual evolution mutations have become a pruely negative relict of the declining phase of the biological evolution. Effective means of medical genetics suitable in reducing the number of manifest mutants are: prenatal genetic diagnoses in as many pregnancies as possible; protection from exogenous mutagenic sources such as chemical mutagens and consequent protection from ionizing radiations, especially in the field of medicine. Possibly also effective is conventional genetic counselling which, however, should be supported for purely humanitarian reasons. The author denies the necessity for extraordinary efforts in the field of "genetic engineering" for various reasons, without casting doubt on the purely scientific aspects of molecular genetics.