The People vs. Recombinant DNA

In 1976, Harvard University wanted to build a specialized lab for recombinant DNA research. But first, it had to get permission from the city of Cambridge. The resulting city council hearings drew TV stations and captured the attention of the whole country. At the center of the controversy? A wise-talking mayor, a young outspoken molecular biologist, and an important question: in scientific research, how much say should the public have?

Credits Host: Alexis Pedrick

Executive Producer: Mariel Carr

Producer: Rigoberto Hernandez

Associate Producer: Sarah Kaplan

Audio Engineer: Samia Bouzid

Resource List

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

Krimsky, Sheldon. Genetic Alchemy: A Social History of the Recombinant DNA Controversy. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1984.

Rogers, Michael. "Biohazard."

Nova: The Gene Engineers. Dailymotion.

"Cambridge DNA Hearings, 1976." Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Oral History Program, oral history collection on the recombinant DNA controversy.