It may seem like a tempest in a test tube, but it has mightily agitated the scientific community and is now being debated in Congress. The question at issue: Is it dangerous, and possibly sacrilegious, to tamper with the genetic codes that control life? This week's cover story explains how some molecular biologists have become genetic engineers, and it details the controversy that surrounds their experiments. The story aims at providing a thorough understanding of the issues involved in deciding if steps are needed to curb, or stop altogether, the work being done in creating genetic hybrids.

The author of the story is Associate Editor Frederic Golden, who has long followed with "fascination" the developments in molecular biology. He acknowledges that "there is a certain natural awe, fear and hostility that some people have toward scientists. And many scientists remain aloof. We hope this story will help to bridge the gap between the world inside the laboratory and the world outside."

Golden was a member of the team that produced the first TIME cover story on DNA (TIME, April 19,1971). It was part of a special section that detailed "the promise and peril of the new genetics," and correctly predicted that scientists would soon be able to splice different DNA chains together. Senior Editor Leon Jaroff, who edited both the 1971 stories and this week's report, feels that "while sensible restraints may have to be placed on the experiments, the work should be allowed to proceed. The potential for good is fantastic."

Jaroff's view is shared by Golden and by Reporter-Researcher Adrianne Jucius, who researched the story. Jucius first studied the intricacies of DNA as a graduate student at the University of Illinois, feeling the excitement of a scientist at work on the "fundamental substance of life" as she stirred a beakerful of solution, slowly accumulating a luminous glob of DNA strands on the end of her glass rod. "It was a very simple lab procedure," says Jucius, "but it was one of the most exhilarating moments in my life."

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