Abstract
The revolution in genetics brought on by the advent of recombinant DNA technology is barely 25 years old. Each step forward in that revolution has been subjected to intense scrutiny—and prompted fierce debate. Manipulating DNA through recombinant technology is now a standard, and extremely powerful, tool of basic research. For producing drugs, biotechnology is a major industry in its own right, and it has fundamentally altered the traditional pharmaceutical industry. Yet 20 years ago, much recombinant DNA research now considered routine was carried out in facilities patterned after those used for research on pathogens that might be employed in biological warfare. In hindsight, that trepidation may seem excessive. But the caution molecular biologists exercised was bred of a profound respect for the awesome power of the new tools they were developing. The debate over genetic technologies, and the restraints on research it engendered, was unprecedented in scientific research and very necessary. That debate c...
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