Science Follow

Review of 'Genetic Politics', Anne Kerr and Tom Shakespeare, New Clarion Press £12.95

Sir John Sulston, former director of the human genome mapping project, talks to John Parrington.

Steven Rose pays tribute to the life and work of Stephen Jay Gould.

Stephen Jay Gould, the scientist who died last week, will be remembered for many things. He was one of the greatest ever popularisers of science, especially in his chosen field of natural history and evolution. Gould was also a lifelong fighter against racism and reactionary ideas of all kinds.

John Parrington examines the controversy over the cloning of human embryos.

Scientists have shattered a central claim by supporters of genetically modified (GM) crops. A study reported last week in top science journal Nature showed that genes from GM maize, produced by the Monsanto multinational, had contaminated wild maize in Mexico.

University research is being hijacked by big business. University departments are increasingly taking funding from the companies whose products they are supposed to be "investigating". Scientists at Imperial College, Berkshire, did a ten-year study of GM crops, and concluded that GM crops were no more likely to be bad for the environment than conventional ones.

BSE-"mad cow disease"- has suddenly become a key issue right across Europe. In France, Italy, Greece, Spain and, above all, Germany, beef consumption has slumped by up to 40 percent in the wake of a sudden rise in BSE cases.

On the evidence of the first episode the new series Earth Story (7.10pm, BBC2, continues from Monday 12 February) someone in the BBC has remembered the corporation's supposed commitment to "public service broadcasting".