The human genome project : can we now play god.

With the recent unravelling of chromosome 22 and other advances in genetic knowledge, Melvyn Bragg and panel discuss the hopes and fears surrounding the human genome project. Taking part in the discussion are Dr. John Sulston (sanger Centre, Cambridge), Prof. Robert Winston (Hammersmith Hospital), Prof. Susan Greenfield (Director, Royal Institution), Dr. Alun McCarthy (Genetics Division, Glaxo-Wellcome), Prof. Sheila MacLean (Glasgow University) and Dr. Kenneth Boyd (Edinburgh University Medical School). At the beginning of the programme Dr. Sulston explains what is meant by the human genome. The discussion falls into 3 parts: the significance of the discoveries made under the human genome project; the medical advances it promises; and the anxieties caused by this development in genetic knowledge.