By the spring of 1971, Mertz had the DNA pieces she needed. But Berg’s lab still lacked a method for making this trivalent recombinant DNA. Once introduced into E. coli and replicated there to high ...

Within roughly five years, the pair succeeded in combining Cohen’s plasmids and Boyer’s enzymes to create recombinant DNA technology, genetically engineering bacteria that could produce a foreign ...

Genetic engineering uses enzymes to carefully alter genetic material. This line of study has led to hardier and healthier food crops, the mass production of insulin, and novel vaccines, and it’s all ...

The famed 1975 conference about a controversial genetic technology is feted as an example of how scientific self-regulation works. But more significant is what wasn’t discussed.