Distillations | Science History Institute

Genetic engineering breakthroughs in the late 1960s and early 1970s came with a lot of promise—and peril too. Fears about what could happen with recombinant DNA experiments put scientists in the middle of a moral dilemma. Did they have a responsibility to consider how others might use their work? Or was their place simply to be on the lab bench? In this two-part episode, we’ll share the story about the first time scientists stopped and considered the ramifications of their work, with a self-imposed moratorium. And we’ll explore all the controversy that led to the historic pivotal meeting at the Asilomar Conference Grounds in 1975 to determine the future of genetic engineering.

Credits

Host: Alexis Pedrick
Senior Producer: Mariel Carr
Producer: Rigoberto Hernandez
Associate Producer: Sarah Kaplan
Audio Engineer: Jonathan Pfeffer
Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Resource List

A Deep Conversation with Jon Beckwith: A History of Scientific and Social Activism. University of California Television. YouTube.

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Chemical Heritage Foundation: The Emergence of Biotechnology. Science History Institute.

Cobb, Matthew. As Gods: A Moral History of the Genetic Age. New York: Basic Books, 2021.

Cohen, Stanley N. Science, Biotechnology, and Recombinant DNA: A Personal History. UC Berkeley.

DNA Learning Center. "Asilomar Meeting."

Genetic Dreams, Genetic Nightmares. BBC.

Fredrickson, Donald S. Asilomar and Recombinant DNA: The End of the Beginning.

DNA: The Secret of Life. IMDb.

Jurassic Park. IMDb.

Late 1960s-Early 1970s Anti-War Marches. YouTube.

"Letter from Maxine Singer and Dieter Söll to Philip Handler."

Lear, John. Recombinant DNA: The Untold Story. Goodreads.

Mukherjee, Siddhartha. The Gene: An Intimate History. Simon & Schuster.

McElheny, Victor. Attempting the Impossible at Asilomar.

McElheny, Victor. Gene Transplants Seen Helping Farmers and Doctors. The New York Times, May 20, 1974.

Nova: The Gene Engineers. Dailymotion.

Protein Synthesis: An Epic on the Cellular Level. YouTube.

Rejection of Science Worries American Scientists. The New York Times, April 5, 1970.

Rogers, Michael. The Pandora’s Box Congress. Rolling Stone.

The Gene: PBS. PBS Learning Media.

"The MacNeil/Lehrer Report: Genetic Engineering." American Archive of Public Broadcasting.