Genetic Engineering

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the implications of the developments in genetic engineering. Out of the city of Cambridge in the mid century came DNA and out of Edinburgh at the end of the century came the cloning of Dolly the sheep. These two facts might well do more to change the world literally, and our view of the world, than anything else that has happened at any time. Genetics have become the conversation of our day and with the Human Genome Project lumbering towards completion, its power grows. But are the consequences likely to be destructive and will what we think of as a human being, a personality, or even a person, change uncomfortably and irredeemably?

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Guests

• Grahame Bulfield No other episodes
  Honorary Professor, Edinburgh University and Director of the Roslin Institute, Edinburgh
• Bryan Appleyard No other episodes
  Features Writer for The Sunday Times and author of Brave New Worlds: Genetics and the Human Experience

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Programme ID: p00545bb

Episode page: bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00545bb

Auto-category: 576.5 (Genetics and evolution)

Hello (First sentence from this episode)

Hello, today I'm joined by the geneticist Professor Grahame Bulfield and the writer Bryan Appleyard to discuss the impact of the new genetics, one of the most important advances in scientific knowledge in the modern age.