At a catered conference banquet Saturday night on MIT's campus, representatives of the biotechnology industry mingled with prominent Harvard professors including Professor of Medicine Warner V. Slack and Professor of Science and Public Policy Sheila S. Jasanoff.

Later, Jasanoff spoke on the perception that law lags behind the development of science and technology.

But this was no ordinary professional conference. Entirely student-run, it nevertheless attracted top researchers, academics and journalists who work in biomedicine and biotechnology. The audience was comprised mostly of undergraduates from Harvard and MIT.

Conference speakers, who included Nature editor-in-chief Phillip Campbell and Thomas Professor of Surgery Fritz H. Bach '55-'56 said they were attracted to the conference because of the opportunity to interact with Harvard and MIT undergraduates and because of the provocative topics on the agenda.

"I just love these conferences," said Bach. "I think they're superb because they don't mind bringing up contentious issues."

Indeed, during the panel discussion on the ethical and social implications of biotechnology, students in the audience put the panelists to sharp questioning about the implications of genetic modification of humans and the role the biotechnology industry plays in suppressing or pushing research.

Sheldon Krimsky, professor of urban and environmental policy at Tufts University, criticized the way companies can patent genes even without a clear understanding of their function.

"I've been a critic of the current patent rules because they don't seem to serve the public interest," he said.