Hands on Life broaches the hard theme of genetic engineering narrating a series of events regarding people whose life has been transformed, for good or evil, by such research works. For example, the little Danilo is affected by a rare genetic disease, as Donato his little brother, already dead. His mother decides Danilo's birth relying on the first genetic transplant. Again, professor Lavitrano is a remarkable geneticist whose studies are financed only by public funds. "Her" transgenic pigs belong to science no to trade. Finally, Peter Schmeiser is the Canadian farmer who, denounced by Monsanto to have grown genetically modified colza without paying for the patent, decided to fight back. He asks: " Is it legitimate the patenting of life forms by multinational corporations? Who has the right to lay hands on life? In spite of the relevance of this topic, the documentary has been lying neglected for months inside the RAI archives.
