Great debates : the beginnings of life.

Based at the Wellcome Trust, the Haller versus Wolff debate is re-enacted by scientists at the forefront of genetic research. 18th century embryologist Albrecht von Haller engaged the physician Caspar Friedrich Wolff in a heated precursor to today's debate about genetic determination. Haller argued for preformation while Wolff argued for epigenesis. In the age of the genome, champions for these opposing views will ask: is embryonic development governed by information coded by the DNA, or does the egg contain a feature that indicates the correct orientation for development? The debate is illustrated by readings from original texts by the two protagonists.