In February 1975, leading biology researchers and lawyers participated in what became known as the Asilomar Conference, a meeting to discuss and recommend policy regarding novel recombinant DNA, or rDNA, technology. rDNA is DNA that scientists create in a lab by combining genetic material from two distinct sources. A group of researchers, including Paul Berg, Maxine F. Singer, and David Baltimore, organized the Asilomar Conference, which was held at the Asilomar Conference Grounds in Pacific Grove, California. The purpose was to discuss how to manage the risk of researchers unintentionally creating harmful or deadly pathogens through rDNA research. The conference resulted in the creation of the NIH Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant DNA Molecules in 1976, which outlines biosafety guidelines for researchers working with rDNA. The Asilomar Conference was one of the first instances when scientists gathered independently to discuss and establish precautionary guidelines for research using rDNA, a technology with the potential for wide-reaching applications for medicine, biology, and reproduction.

Maxine Frank Singer was a researcher who studied molecular biology and genetics in the United States during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Her work synthesizing RNA molecules advanced researchers’ ability to understand triplets of nucleotides in RNA and DNA, which allowed them to read the genetic code. Singer was also one of the first scientists to find that certain long repeated DNA sequences, called long interspersed nucleotide elements, or LINEs, can jump around, and the mechanism behind it. Outside of her research, Singer also was active in science policy, helping to regulate the use of genetic engineering and recombinant DNA technologies, and organizing conferences around the topic, such as the Asilomar Conference. Prior to Singer’s work, researchers knew that DNA was a double stranded molecule made up of alternating nucleotides, but Singer contributed to researchers’ understanding of what those nucleotides meant in the genetic code. While Singer advanced the scientific community’s understanding of how to read the genetic code and how LINEs impact genetic diseases, her promotion of ethical discussions of scientific responsibilities in manipulating the code helped create policy that continues to affect researchers exploring genetic engineering as of 2024.