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. 

“Cambridge RDNA hearings, volume 1, 1976.” Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Oral History Program, oral history collection on the recombinant DNA controversy. 

“National Academy of Sciences. Forum. Washington, DC, 1977 March 7–9.” Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Oral History Program, oral history collection on the recombinant DNA controversy. 

“The MacNeil/Lehrer Report: Genetic Engineering.” American Archive of Public Broadcasting.

From Controversy to Cure: Inside the Cambridge Biotech Boom. MIT Video Productions.

“Pantechnicon; Dna, 1976.” WGBH.

The Andromeda Strain. IMDb.

Jurassic Park. IMDb.

CBS News – 04.06.1977

NBC News – 05.24.1977