To Feed and to Cure

The need for food and medicine is universal. Yet, few subjects have stirred as much nationalistic debates on both sides of the Pacific as the development and application of biotechnologies. Why, in a country scarred by famine like China, did the public turn against genetically modified crops? Should medicine be a commodity, and if so, what role should a nominally socialist state play in bringing new drugs to market? Can a company be both patriotic and globally successful? And can Chinese and American scientists collaborate to find a cure for cancer? For this episode, Yangyang spoke with sociologist Abigail Coplin and physician-scientist Chenjian Li on the power and limitations of biotechnologies, and how the body can become a geopolitical battleground and a site for profit.