You might find of interest - a 90 minute documentary running on PBS about molecular biology and biotech.
It's called Cracking the Code: Phil Sharp and the Biotech Revolution. In some ways it's two films merged together. One is a bio of Prof. Sharp of MIT, now about 80, winner of the Nobel Prize in 1993. The other tells the early story of biotech's like Genentech and Biogen, and events like the 1975 Asilomar Conference on how recombinant DNA should be handled.
I assume it streams free at PBS for at least a few weeks. Find it here:
https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/documentaries/cracking-the-code/
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AI CORNER
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Here's a Chat GPT review based on an autotranscript.
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Review: “Cracking the Code: Phil Sharp and the Biotech Revolution” (PBS, 2025)
Cracking the Code is PBS at its most ambitious—part scientific biography, part origin story of modern biotechnology. Narrated by Mark Ruffalo and interspersed with commentary from Walter Isaacson, the film traces Phil Sharp’s improbable journey from a Kentucky tobacco farm to the Nobel Prize podium in Stockholm. It’s a familiar American arc—poverty, perseverance, genius—but elevated by a deep sense of scientific wonder.
The film opens in the rural South, depicting Sharp’s struggles with dyslexia and his early fascination with science. These scenes are a bit heavy-handed—complete with swelling strings and slow pans over sun-drenched barns—but they set up the central theme: that insight can arise far from privilege or polish. Once Sharp reaches MIT, the pacing tightens and the documentary finds its rhythm, moving briskly through his discovery of RNA splicing, the formation of Biogen, and the birth of the biotech industry.
PBS excels here in connecting Sharp’s lab bench discoveries to the world we now inhabit—mRNA vaccines, interferon therapies, and a new generation of genetic medicine. It’s a sweeping view, occasionally bordering on hagiography, but grounded in archival footage and the testimony of scientists who worked alongside him. Ruffalo’s narration lends warmth, though his delivery sometimes heightens the melodrama already present in the script.
If there’s a flaw, it’s that Cracking the Code often favors inspiration over interrogation. The ethical debates around recombinant DNA research, vividly dramatized in the 1970s Cambridge hearings, are touched upon but not deeply explored. Likewise, the economic and political forces that turned biotech into a trillion-dollar industry receive only brief mention.
Still, as a portrait of curiosity, risk-taking, and the interplay between academic discovery and entrepreneurial daring, the documentary succeeds powerfully. It leaves the viewer with a clear message: Phil Sharp didn’t just change molecular biology—he helped redefine the relationship between science and society.
Verdict: ★★★★☆
A richly produced, sometimes sentimental but ultimately inspiring account of a scientist who helped launch the biotechnology age.
