Presented by John Maddox
Over the past few months LORD ASHBY and his committee of scientists have been looking at the possible hazards and benefits that might come from the genetic manipulation of microorganisms The committee's report was published last week and Lord Ashby discusses the ethical issues it raises.
Are there genes that have neither positive nor negative survival value to an organism? PROFESSOR JOHN MAYNARD SMITH of the University of Sussex and PROFESSOR BRIAN HARTLEY of Imperial College, London, examine the question in the light of recent experiments. Producer DAVID PATERSON