Susan Wright, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Published online: September 2006
DOI: 10.1002/9780470015902.a0005613
The 1975 Asilomar conference is seen a landmark in the history of genetic engineering, an event that served as an influential model for policy making at that time. Its role as a model for future policy making on DNA technologies has been broadly questioned, particularly since commercial and military interests have been seen as major influences on the field's development.
Keywords: Asilomar; Paul Berg; genetic engineering; biological weapons; human genetic modification
References
Berg P, Baltimore D, Boyer HW, et al. (1974) Potential biohazards of recombinant DNA molecules. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 71: 2593–2594.
Berg P, Baltimore D, Brenner S, Roblin RO and Singer MF (1975) Asilomar conference on recombinant DNA molecules. Science 188: 991–994.
Chargaff E (1975) Profitable wonders. The Sciences 15: 21–26.
Jonas H (1978) Straddling the boundaries of theory and practice: recombinant DNA research as a case of action in the process of inquiry. In: Richards J (ed.) Recombinant DNA: Science, Ethics, and Politics, pp. 253–271. New York, NY: Academic Press.
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Lederberg J (1970) Working Paper presented to Conference of the Committee on Disarmament, UN Doc. CCD/312 (27 August 1970).
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Further Reading
Asilomar (1975) Audiotape of the International Conference on Recombinant DNA Molecules, Asilomar, 24 February. Recombinant DNA History Collection, Institute Archives and Special Collections, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
Goodell R (1987) The role of mass media in scientific controversy. In: Engelhardt T and Caplan A (eds.) Scientific Controversies. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Gottweis H (1998) Governing Molecules: The Discursive Politics of Genetic Engineering in Europe and the United States. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Nelkin, D (1994) Selling Science: How the Press Covers Science and Technology. New York, NY: W.H. Freeman.
Rogers M (1977) Biohazard. New York, NY: Knopf.
Schechter AN and Perlman RL (eds.) (2001) Symposium on science, ethics, and society: the 25th anniversary of the Asilomar Conference. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 44(2): 159–248.
Wade N (1977) The Ultimate Experiment: Man‐made Evolution. New York, NY: Walker.
Weiner C (1979) The recombinant DNA controversy: archival and oral history resources. Science, Technology, and Human Values (January): 17–19.
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