Biotech Risks and Asteroid Anxiety

BBC Inside Science

BBC

Technology, Science

4.5 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 20 March 2025

⏱️ 29 minutes

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Summary

Scientists gather this week to tackle emerging risks from cutting-edge biotech, echoing the landmark Asilomar conference that shaped genetic engineering safety 50 years ago. What new threats face us, and how can the scientific community stay ahead of them?

Also in the programme: are you feeling asteroid anxiety? We take a closer look at the chances that ‘2024 YR4’ will hit us... We get the latest calculations on this space rock's potential collision course with Earth in 2032.

And, as members of the Royal Society debate whether to expel Elon Musk from their ranks, we explore past fellows who rattled the establishment. Fellows meet next month to decide his fate.

If you want to find out more about the history of genetic engineering - from the Asilomar conference to the present day - search for Matthew Cobb's series 'Genetic Dreams, Genetic Nightmares' on BBC Sounds.

To discover more fascinating science content, head to bbc.co.uk search for BBC Inside Science and follow the links to The Open University.

Presenter: Victoria Gill Producers: Ilan Goodman, Sophie Ormiston & Ella Hubber Editor: Martin Smith Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

Transcript

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0:00.0	He tells her that she will be sent to France as a secret agent, and if she's caught, she's going to be shot.
0:09.3	I'm Helen Obalam Carter, and this is history's secret heroes, where I shine a light on extraordinary stories from World War II.
0:17.6	What they wanted was someone to get themselves arrested and sent to Auschwitz.
0:22.0	Tales of deception and incredible acts of resistance and courage. She was a born soldier.
0:27.4	She's a freedom fighter in its widest sense. The brand new series of history's secret heroes.
0:32.8	Listen first on BBC sounds. Hello, delightful, curious-minded people and welcome to BBC Inside Science. I'm Victoria Gill.
0:40.8	Today, we are going to dig some historical dirt on a row surrounding a controversial billionaire and the Royal Society.
0:47.6	We'll explore the new extraterrestrial Wild West that is the lunar surface.
0:52.5	And we're going to explain some complicated, potentially
0:55.0	world-changing calculations that reveal whether an asteroid might be heading our way around
0:59.9	Christmas 2032. All that in the space of the next 25 minutes, strap in. But first, we
1:06.2	live in an era where genes can be edited like text and artificial intelligence can unlock the secrets of proteins
1:12.4	and rummage through thousands of molecules to find new drugs. The possibilities are thrilling,
1:17.7	but the risks are unpredictable. So how do we reap the benefits of scientific advances while
1:22.6	preventing harm? Well, scientists were grappling with this same question 50 years ago, just as genetic
1:28.8	engineering first became a possibility. So a group of leading biologists met in a Silamar, California,
1:34.4	to discuss the biohazards of DNA technology. It was a remarkable conference, and next week
1:39.6	a group of scientists will gather at a meeting that marks its 50th anniversary. Professor Matthew Cobb,
1:45.0	a biologist and a historian of science at the University of Manchester, will be there. But right
1:48.9	now, he's here in the studio with me. Hello, Matthew. Hello, Vic. How are you? I'm good. Thank you.
1:53.4	Welcome to the programme. Before we get into what this latest sort of a Cilomar 2.0 meeting aims to
2:00.4	achieve, can you just tell us about the meeting 50 years ago? You know, it was seen as this latest sort of a CILOMR 2.0 meeting aims to achieve.
	...

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