In February 1975 an international group of scientists met at the Asilomar Conference Grounds in Pacific Grove, California, to discuss the potential biohazards posed by recombinant DNA (rDNA) technology. The official title of the meeting was the International Conference on Recombinant DNA Molecules, but it is remembered simply as the Asilomar Conference. It established guidelines concerning the physical and biological containment of rDNA organisms that served as the model for the current guidelines used by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Although the Asilomar Conference marks a watershed moment in the regulation of rDNA technology, its broader implications remain controversial (Barinaga 2000, Davatelis 2000). Some claim that it was an example of self-promotion by a small but powerful interest group. Others argue that the process was too alarmist and generated unfounded fears in the public. Still others contend that it was an instance of scientists successfully regulating their own...