Unit 6 / Listening 5B

Knock on door.

Voice: Come in.

Tom: Mr Gruninger? I'm Tom Hunter.

Gruninger: Do come in Mr Hunter. Take a seat.

Tom: Thank you.

Gruninger: Now what can I do for you? The receptionist said you wanted to interview me.

Tom: Yes, that's right. I work for The Move. It's a magazine about –

Gruninger: Yes, my wife buys The Move from time to time. There are some interesting articles in it sometimes.

Tom: We occasionally do profiles of celebrities. Which is why I've come to see you.

Gruninger: Oh, I'm hardly a celebrity, you know.

Tom: But you were. All those exotic pets you created made you very famous.

Gruninger: Well, that's all over now. People forget quickly. I'm sure no one remembers me now.

Tom: Why did you decide to stop the business you set up? You were making good money, weren't you?

Gruninger: Probably less than most people thought. I suppose I just grew tired of it. At heart I'm a researcher, not a businessman. It's true that I was a celebrity for a few months, but I didn't much like it. I prefer the anonymity of a research laboratory.

Tom: So you joined Biomed.

Gruninger: Yes. And I've never regretted it. Even though I'm a Vice-President of the company, I don't get so tied up in administrative matters. I just get on with my research.

Tom: What exactly is your research, Mr Gruninger? You've stopped making strange and beautiful creatures, but what are you doing?

Gruninger: Nothing exciting, I'm afraid. Not to the media, anyway. I'm working on cell regeneration. It probably seems very dull in comparison.

Tom: It's very different from what you were doing before. I thought researchers tend to become more and more specialised as they get older.

Gruninger: They do, generally speaking. But I always get a bit restless if I do the same thing for too long. It's probably a weakness because I never really go right to the bottom of things – but that's the way I am.

Tom: You stopped your business, but you still keep an eye on the commercial side of things. You were with James Foley when he launched his new cosmetics range.

Gruninger: I see you've done your homework. James and I are good friends. We have been for a long time. My work in cell regeneration naturally has applications in beauty products. We're very proud of our new skin cream, which we developed as a joint venture with Beautiful Babes. So naturally I went to the launch.

Tom: Doesn't it seem a little – how shall I put it? – trivial, to be dealing with beauty products when before you were one of the world's experts in genetic engineering?

Gruninger: Not at all. Skin cream is just one application but there are many others. The work I'm doing will also help to cure cancer one day, I hope. But that obviously takes longer than developing a beauty product.

Tom: When you produced the first rabbingo – the cross between a rabbit and a flamingo – there were many fears that the same techniques could be applied to humans. Is that another reason why you decided to stop?

Gruninger: Not really, no. The technology does exist, of course, to manufacture almost any creature we want, but the fears were totally exaggerated. It's not because we can do something that we do it. I personally know nearly all the leading researchers in genetics, and all of them know that it's a very sensitive issue. They all have a rigorous ethical code which they adhere to very strictly.

Tom: Where is Jason Freedman now? He was your partner in the rabbingo days, but he didn't move with you to Biomed.

Gruninger: No. Jason and I are still good friends though. Like me, he chose not to continue in genetic engineering, but whereas I joined a major pharmaceutical company, he preferred to go his own way. For a while he did humanitarian work in Africa , and now he runs his own private medical practice in Harley Street .

Tom: That's a very strange leap. From Africa to Harley Street .

Gruninger: It must seem that way to an outsider. But we all have our contradictions, I suppose. And Jason is in fact still involved in humanitarian work, but in an advisory capacity. He helps various charities both in their administration and by giving practical advice on how to deliver aid to where it's needed.

Tom: I see you've been to Africa yourself.

Gruninger: What makes you say that?

Tom: That little statue on your bookcase. It comes from East Africa , doesn't it?

Gruninger: Oh that. Yes, it's Kenyan, I believe. Jason brought it back for me. But in fact I've never been there myself, no.

Tom: You said your friendship with James Foley goes back a long way. What was the –

Gruninger: Good Lord, it's twenty to three already! I'm sorry, Mr Hunter, there's an experiment under way in the laboratory which I really ought to be supervising.

Tom: But there are still several questions I want to ask.

Gruninger: Some other time, perhaps? It's been a pleasure talking to you, but I really must get back to work now. My secretary will show you the way out. Goodbye.