50 years ago the structure of DNA was determined 1 and hailed as the “secret of life”. The determination of the structure of DNA made it seem as if the complete understanding of living organisms was possible, even though fundamental questions regarding DNA function were unanswered, and remain so today. Later, in the 1970s and 1980s, the technology to insert genes at random into the genomes of organisms were developed and termed genetic engineering (GE). Genetic engineering was hailed as a “life” science, as a technology to shape and design living organisms as required. Some GE crops have now been commercialised by the GE industry and deliberately released to the environment. Unexpected effects occurring in GE organisms, including commercial GE crops, are regarded as technical problems to be overcome by more research or adapted technologies. However, these unexpected effects may be due to more a more fundamental reason – that the basis of GE is invalid. In the 50 years since the discovery of the double helix, science has shown that gene expression is not nearly as simple as the GE industry would like to believe.