...At the dawn of the era of genetic engineering, molecular biologists and others at the famed 1975 Asilomar conference wrangled with the potential biohazards of recombinant DNA research, exchanging speculative possibilities about future applications, risks of contamination, and issues...

...This chapter examines the famous 1975 Asilomar meeting on recombinant DNA as a site of memory that informs how futures tend to be imagined in American governance of emerging technology. It argues that Asilomar-in-memory crystallizes an imaginary of “governable emergence” wherein science predicts...