IN VITRO DNA SEQUENCING
CONTENTS CHAPTER ASILOMAR: THE END OF THE BEGINNING (1975) CHAPTER A FEDERAL CASE (1975) CHAPTER THE GATHERING STORM (1975) CHAPTER EXTENDING THE SEED OF POWER TO THE PUBLIC (1976) CHAPTER RECOMBINANT RAMBLINGS (1976–77) CHAPTER THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT AND THE POLYOMA EXPERIMENT (1976–77) CHAPTER ACTS OF CONGRESS (1977) CHAPTER RETURNING TO THE WITNESS TABLE: THE REMAINDER OF THE 95TH CONGRESS (1977–78) CHAPTER THE REVISING OF THE GUIDELINES (1976–78) CHAPTER A MAJOR ACTION (1978–79) CHAPTER WINDING DOWN (1979–81) CHAPTER MORAL CHAPTER EPILOGUE NOTES ASILOMAR: THE END OF THE BEGINNING† THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS ?RST CHAPTER IS TO RECONSTRUCT, FROM AN ABUNDANT REC- ORD,1 THE STORY OF THE CLIMACTIC EVENT OF THE ?RST ACT, THE 1975 ASILOMAR CONFERENCE ON RECOMBINANT DNA MOLECULES THE SUBJECT NEEDS TO BE VIEWED IN THE BROADEST CONTEXT THEREFORE, WE HAVE TO ZOOM IN UPON IT FROM THE PAST, USING A LENS OF WIDE ANGLE THE COMING OF AGE OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY A LANDMARK IN THIS HISTORY IS THE YEAR 1944 TWO NOTEWORTHY BUT UNRELATED EVENTS OCCURRED THAT PRECIPITATED IMPORTANT CHANGES IN BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH ONE WAS A SCIENTI?C ACHIEVEMENT, THE OTHER A POLITICAL DECISION THE NATURE OF GENES THE SCIENTI?C ACHIEVEMENT WAS THE DISCOVERY OF THE CHEMICAL NATURE OF GENES WHEN THE ?RST CAUTIOUS REPORT WAS ABSORBED AND ACCEPTED, IT SNAPPED INTO FOCUS PREVIOUS RESEARCH IN GENETICS RUNNING BACK OVER 80 YEARS, IF ONE COUNTED THE CAREFUL NOTES THE MONK GREGOR MENDEL PUT ASIDE IN 1865 FOLLOWING A MUCH EARLIER TRAIL OF RESEARCH, ESPECIALLY A CLUE THAT DIFFERENT STRAINS OF PNEUMOCOCCUS WERE ABLE TO EXCHANGE CERTAIN CHARACTERISTICS LIKE COAT APPEARANCE AND VIRULENCE, OSWALD AVERY, COLIN MACLEOD, AND MACLYN MCCARTY AT THE ROCKEFELLER INSTITUTE ESTABLISHED THAT THE EXCHANGER WAS A STICKY MACROMOLECULE OR POLYMER MADE UP OF SUGAR, BASES, AND PHOSPHORIC SEQUENCING OF IN VITRO AMPLIFIED DNA