Genetic Roulette
Are scientists gambling with our future? We usually react to disasters after they happen - thalidomide, Flixborough, Seveso. Can we afford to do the same with new techniques of genetic engineering? By transferring bits of DNA from one organism to another, biologists promise rich prizes: plants which need no fertilizer, cheap medicines, cheap fuel. Above all they promise new knowledge of growth processes, evolution and disease.
But other scientists say the research itself might cause mysterious diseases, or cancer, or even an evolutionary catastrophe. Most genetic engineers say that the chances of dangerous new bugs escaping the laboratory are vanishingly small, that the stake is low and the winnings will be high.
In America the public are taking part in this debate in an unprecedented way. In Britain the dialogue between scientists and public is quieter and more controlled. But the problem remains: when scientists cannot agree, how can the people decide which games of chance to allow them to play? Narrator BILL BRECKON
Film editor MICHAEL RIGG
Editor SIMON CAMPBELL-JONES
Written and produced by MARTIN FREETH Preview: page 13