Includes bibliographical references and index.

The discussion of recombinant DNA at The University of Michigan / Alvin Zander -- Principles and applications of recombinant DNA methodology / David A. Jackson -- Recombinant DNA : areas of potential applications / A.M. Chakrabarty -- Biological containment : the construction of safer E. coli strains / Roy Curtis III -- Two lectures on recombinant DNA research / Robert L. Sinsheimer -- Biological, social, and political issues in genetic engineering / Science for the people -- The case against genetic engineering / George Wald -- Evolution, epidemiology, and recombinant DNA / Bernard D. Davis -- Real and imagined dangers of recombinant DNA technology : the need for expert evaluation / Rolf Freter -- DNA splicing : will fear rob us of its benefits? / Joshua Lederberg -- The recombinant DNA debate : some philosophical considerations / Stephen P. Stich -- When may research be stopped? / Carl Cohen -- Biocatastrophe and the law : legal aspects of recombinant DNA research / Roger B. Dworkin -- Why we avoid the key questions : how shifts in funding of scientific inquiry affect decision making about science / Max Heirich -- Who decides who decides : some dilemmas and other hopes / Donald N. Michael -- The press as guilty bystander / Charles R. Eisendrath -- On the dangers of inquiry and the burden of proof / Carl Cohen.