Episode
NOVA: The Gene Engineers
Overview
NOVA explores the history of genetic engineering and the possible risks and benefits of this area of research
Details
- Series
- NOVA
- Season
- Season 4
- Episode
- Episode 9
- Air date
- 1977-03-16
- Runtime
- 55 min
Episode context
The Gene Engineers is Episode 9 in Season 4 of NOVA. It aired on 1977-03-16. The runtime is 55 min.
Previous / Next
Episode 8: The Pill for the People
NOVA profiles chemist Russell Marker who made the birth control pill possible by discovering a synthetic substitute for the hormone progesterone.
Episode 10: The Human Animal
NOVA investigates the controversial theory of Harvard University biologist E.O. Wilson, that many aspects of human behavior are genetically determined.
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Episode 7: Bye Bye Blackbird
NOVA looks at blackbirds, their winter habit of nesting in the millions, and the destruction they do to crops.
Episode 11: The Wolf Equation
In the winter of 1976-77, 80 percent of the wolf population in Northwest Alaska was the target of aerial hunts. Although the area is roamed by the Western Arctic caribou herds—a natural predator of the wolf—the caribou population has been steadily decreasing in number. NOVA examines how the Dept. of Fish and Game is handling the the problem of wolf control.
Episode 6: Incident at Brown's Ferry
NOVA recreates March 1975 at Brown's Ferry, an Alabama nuclear power plant—the largest in the world—that suffered a seven-hour fire which came very close to developing into a major public disaster.
Episode 12: The Dawn of the Solar Age
Solar energy is increasingly popular as a home heating source. But only recently has it been seriously considered as a source of industrial power. NOVA looks at this new industrial approach, such as the use of a huge windmill in Ohio, giant machines that may generate electricity from the heat of the tropical seas or from the motion of waves, and an orbiting solar power station able to beam microwaves to earth.
Episode 5: The Plastic Prison
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Episode 13: The Business of Extinction
NOVA explores the huge international illegal trade in animals, penetrates the thriving underworld of smugglers and assesses the effects on vanishing wildlife.
Episode 4: The Sunspot Mystery
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Episode 14: The Red Planet
NOVA traces 300 years of speculation, investigation and discovery that have centered on Mars—particularly the theory that the planet could support life. Questions raised by NASA's 1976 Viking mariner missions about how the vast canyons were formed are also explored.
Episode 3: What Price Coal?
What is the price we are prepared to pay for coal? NOVA looks at the environmental and health safety issues raised by the government, industry, and the victims.
Episode 15: Tongues of Men (1)
In part one of this two-part exploration of the diversity of world languages, NOVA examines how and why the bewildering confusion of languages came about.