Dr. Donald Fredrickson 
October 12 , 1976 
Page 8 
human activity, from nuclear power generation to cigarette manu- 
facture, society has found it wise to separate promotion from 
regulation . 
The public must decide whether the risks from gene transplan 
tation are acceptable or not, and under what circumstances use 
of the technique should be permitted. We do not yet have the 
procedures necessary to make such decisions democratically. We 
might do so, for example, through a national commission, estab- 
lished by Congress to formulate policy for all work that poses 
biological hazards. Such a body would clearly require access 
to the widest possible range of technical perspectives from both 
advocates and critics of a hazardous technology. But its mem- 
bership should reflect the fact that its fundamental decisions 
would be on matters of public policy. As in other areas of 
government, it would be necessary to institute appropriate checks 
and balances to ensure wide representation of viewpoints and 
independence from academic and industrial interests in promotion 
of the techniques under consideration. 
Until a properly accountable body comes into existence, and 
acts, we should accept the counsel of such eminent scientists 
as Erwin Chargaff and Robert Sinsheimer^^ that use of the tech- 
nique be suspended or confined to a single facility. As frus- 
trating as this proposal may seem to scientists and industrial- 
ists eager to proceed, nothing less will protect the right of 
the public to its own determination of a solution to this problem 
Sincerelv 
Susan Wright ' 
Assistant Professor of Humanities 
College of Engineering 
John Wright 
Associate Professor of English 
Language and Literature 
Marc Ross 
Professor of Physics 
Director, Residential College 
Arthur Schwartz 
Associate Professor of Mathematics 
Richard N. L. Andrews 
Assoc. Professor of Natural Resource 
& Urban and Regional Planning 
ds 
Mary Sinclair 
Appendix K — 37 
