Micro-journey worth taking

Because she was forbidden by the Fascists during World War II to work in a scientific lab, an Italian Jewish woman carried on her research on chicken embryos in her apartment. There, she discovered something special about animal cells: Some of them die in order for the organism to live.

That's one of the fascinating facts to be learned from a unique special. "Death by Design" is a lively documentary about what might seem to be a very dead topic: the cells that make up everything in the world.

But this one-hour special gets around the "my-eyes-glaze-over" attitude that many of us have toward science by using everything from Busby Berkeley musicals to traffic patterns in order to connect the academic instruction to our lives. There's even an early image of sheep, a fortuitous choice given the recent news from Scotland about a lamb named Dolly.

In addition to that Italian scientist -- and her twin sister, an artist -- "Death by Design" includes interviews with several research scientists, who admit how little they know about cells, including why some of them die on command.

In our mother's wombs, the special explains, we all have webbed feet and fingers; at some point, a signal is sent for those cells to die, leaving behind our separated toes and fingers. Meanwhile, a duck's webbed feet don't get the same message and are left alone so that the bird can paddle in a pond.

There's some profound insights in this special, which is bound to leave you wondering how -- and why -- God thought up all this biology stuff. But there's also lots of fun: opening scenes from a horror movie, clips of Esther Williams and dancers, and kaleidoscopic images of both the wider world and the tiny cellular one.

("Death by Design" has not yet been scheduled by WMHT, channel 17. Watch its listings for a future date.)...

Among the TV honorees are:

* "The Boys Next Door," a CBS TV movie about a group home for men with mental retardation;

* "TR: The Story of Theodore Roosevelt," an "American Experience" special on PBS;

* "A Brother's Promise: The Dan Jansen Story," another CBS movie, about the Olympic speed skater.

Movies that were saluted (and are or will be soon available on videotape) include "Fly Away Home," "Marvin's Room," "Mr. Holland's Opus," and "The Spitfire Grill."

Finally, a special award was given to "Touched by an Angel," the CBS series about angelic helpers who guide humans in trouble. "Deep respect for personal and spiritual beliefs is a trademark of this quality family series," noted the citation.

Rev. Thomas McSweeney, director of the Christophers, said of the series: "These heavenly messengers remind their charges and viewers everywhere that there's more to life than meets the eye, and that a loving God knows and cherishes each one of us."

Who knows? Next year, "Death by Design" might be a winner. If it is (and WMHT shows it), you can say, "I saw that!"

(03-20-97)

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