In many ways, the present paper will corer much of the same ground as those that precede it. As its title suggests, it is an overview-in part to highlight various aspects of the areas which have been discussed and in part to put a personal clew of where the most fruitful avenues for exploration over the next two years lie. It is very clearly not a comprehensive summary of the topic; given the delightful unpredictability of biological advance, there is every likelihood such predictions may prove substantially wrong. On the other hand nothing ventured, nothing won; and so with this caveat, there follows one man's reckoning of the directions for the immediate future.