Fifty years ago this week, a paper in the British science journal Nature described the structure of DNA. This discovery kicked off a revolution in biology that brought with it fear as well as excitement. The ability to tinker with genes raised the specter of monster organisms that might threaten the world. As NPR's Joe Palca reports, back then it was scientists who took the lead in resolving such issues, but today it may not be researchers who get to choose how controversial science progresses.
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