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The director's tale

Nature volume 412, pages 378–379 (2001)Cite this article

The Recombinant DNA Controversy: A Memoir. Science, Politics and the Public Interest 1974–1981

  • Donald S. Fredrickson
American Society of Microbiology Press: 2001. 408 pp. $39.95, £32.50 (pbk)

Some 25 years ago, unease within the molecular-biology community over the implications of the emerging techniques of genetic engineering triggered a major public controversy over possible hazards and misuse of the new field. In the United States, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the world's leading biomedical research institution, was designated as the government agency responsible for developing voluntary controls. The controversy quickly encompassed the nature of the controls themselves, which had been developed largely by scientists whose career (and in some cases business) interests were closely linked to the new field.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. historian of science at Residential College, University of Michigan, East Quadrangle, Ann Arbor, 48109-1245, Michigan, USA

    Susan Wright

  2. University of Chicago Press,

    Susan Wright

Author notes

  1. Molecular Politics: Developing American and British Regulatory Policy for Genetic Engineering, 1972–1982

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    1. Susan Wright
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    Wright, S. The director's tale. Nature 412, 378–379 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/35086624

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    • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/35086624

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