Werner Arber's discovery of an enzyme that could cleave long strands of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) led to a revolution in genetics research, providing the foundation that led to techniques to separate and reassemble basic genetic material. Gene splicing, as it was called, proved invaluable for DNA sequencing and gene mapping, which focuses on genetic organization. The most controversial outcome of this research, however, was the eventual manipulation of DNA structures by geneticists, first in test tubes and then in vivo, or within a living organism. Arber received the 1978 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for his research on gene splicing, sharing the prize with United States scientists Hamilton O. Smith and Daniel Nathans, who had also played an essential role in the development of gene splicing. A devoted family man, Werner eschewed politics but was well aware of the implications of genetic manipulation and warned his fellow scientists...