An article in The New Yorker this month by Nicola Twilley once again brought home the struggles faced when one is stigmatized by virtue of having a relative with a bad rap. We are talking about syn bio and its older cousin, rap star, G.M.O. As noted in the article, “[w]e used to say we just needed to educate people about the science, … [w]e said that if they understood it, they would accept it.” Those educated folks, keep banging their heads against the wall, rightfully so, wondering when positions grounded in fiction will give way to outlooks based on sound science. Unfortunately, they might be in for a wait… After all, how long did it take the masses to accept that the earth revolves around the sun — and not the other way around? A long time.