This is a classic article from Â鶹´«Ã½’s archive, republished as part of our 50th anniversary celebrations
AN INTERNATIONAL group of some 140 biologists met last week at the Asilomar Conference Center in Pacific Grove, California, to discuss their new-found ability to play God with living organisms, and to consider a catechism. They also established a precedent from which science may never look back – or, according to another view, recover. For the first time, scientists have taken a hard look at a new fertile field of investigation, paused before entering, and laid down guidelines by which they consider they…
