The Secret of Life, a series of eight, 60-minute programs for PBS broadcast in January 1993, with extensive educational and outreach materials, will be the first television series to document the ongoing revolution in molecular biology. The goal of the program is to make this """"""""new biology"""""""" intelligible to our audience, to demonstrate the extent to which it has transformed the biological and medical sciences, and to explore the pressing issues it raises. The need for such a project is immediate. Our improving ability to understand and manipulate DNA has already produced substantial rewards: diagnostic tools and experimental treatments for inherited diseases and cancer, nearly every advance in the struggle against AIDS, and transgenic animals and plants able to synthesize complex drugs in unprecedented quantities. Yet the power of this emerging technology raises a host of critical ethical, social, and legal questions, and the science behind the issues is remote from public experience. The Secret of Life, through careful scrutiny of facts and misconceptions, will help to close the information gap that currently exists between molecular biologists and the general public. The materials will debunk tabloid images of laboratory-created monsters, probe behind headlines of miracle cancer cures, and bring subjects to life through tales of discovery, personal case studies, engaging histories, and good old-fashioned storytelling. The project aspires to prepare viewers to act as informed citizens in debates that demand the widest possible participation.
