Futureproof Extra: The Genetic Age

When Leo Szilard conceived of the idea of a nuclear chain reaction in 1933 he immediately tried to suppress his own discovery culminating in 1945 with the Szilard petition which advocated a demonstration of the atomic bomb rather than its use in warfare. Szilard knew only too well the awesome destructive power of what he had discovered and knowing what we do about what happened next, what then should we make of the field of genetic engineering, a field of research that has instigated a self-imposed moratorium on four separate occasions in the last 50 years? Professor Matthew Cobb from the University of Manchester is author of 'The Genetic Age: Our Perilous Quest To Edit Life' - he joins Jonathan to discuss.