“There is no recombination without expression!”
In the summer of 1976, protest signs hung in a packed public hearing room in Cambridge, Massachusetts, borrowed language from the American Revolution to make a bold point. In other words, the public has a right to have a say in the future of powerful new science, alongside the Nobel laureates in the room.
The battle was over recombinant DNA, the then-new ability to splice genetic material from one organism to another. Proponents called it the future of biology. Critics have raised concerns about the potential public health hazard, with the mayor likening it to releasing the Frankenstein bug into a sewer. What the hearing produced was quieter than the spectacle that precipitated it. A citizen-led review committee spent months developing study guidelines, one of the first moments of direct public involvement in the governance of biotechnology. These policies helped make Cambridge a global biotechnology center.
Now, as the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, it is receiving renewed attention. The question posed by this paper – who is in a position to shape the technologies that can reshape society – echoes through today’s debates about artificial intelligence and gene editing. Luis Campos, assistant professor of the history of science, technology, and innovation at Rice University, revisits this question in a new essay, “Recombining Representations,” published in issue 250 of the American journal Science.
“Even if we’re talking about recombinant DNA from 50 years ago, people may have AI in their heads and a pandemic running through their heads,” Campos said. “While the technologies at the center of public debate today may be different from those of 50 years ago, the ways we understand new technologies and weigh their promise against the risks they pose are often familiar.”
Campos studies the history of biology and biotechnology. He hosted the 2025 International Summit “The Spirit of Asilomar and the Future of Biotechnology” at the venue of the landmark 1975 Asilomar Conference on Recombinant DNA. He is also the author of Radium and the Secrets of Life and co-editor of Nature Remade: Engineering Life, Envisioning Worlds.
Mr. Campos will be available to discuss the hearing, its legacy, and what it revealed about who will govern powerful new technologies. He can talk about the origins of genetic engineering, the role of public participation in the regulation of science, how the Cambridge hearings shaped the modern biotechnology industry, and what that history suggests for the governance of rapidly changing fields such as AI.
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