Page 29 of Attachment E 
The closing statement of this report is an assertion of their belief in 
the present and future benefits to be derived from the application of 
those techniques. 
"... Finally, we state in summary and with assurance that the 
application of recombinant DNA techniques has already led and will 
lead to important increases in our understanding of human biology in 
both health and disease ...” 
A copy of the Panel's report was submitted "for the record” by Dr. 
Philip Handler, President of the National Academy of Sciences during 
his testimony before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Science, 
Technology and Spaces. Dr. Handler’s testimony addresses itself 
primarily to the possible effects of governmental regulation on freedom 
of inquiry. He states: 
"... The objective of some who have proposed the regulation of 
recombinant DNA research is to use the power of government for the 
suppression of ideas that may otherwise flow from such research. That 
would take us back to an era of dogmatism from which mankind has only 
recently escaped. And it would be a feckless task. In the long run, it is 
impossible to stand in the way of the exploration of truth. Someone will 
learn, somewhere, sometime ...” 
and later: 
”... Understanding of the genetic process is the principal ob- 
jective of such (Recombinant DNA) research. But the practical ap- 
plication to be explored is not to tamper with man’s genetics, it is to 
repair them if and when that proves possible. In evidence, may I submit 
this, as yet incomplete, yet woefully long listing of the hereditary 
diseases of man, taken from the proofs of the next edition of the text- 
book of biochemistry of which I have been coauthor for 25 years. These 
are diseases for which one may earnestly seek therapy or prevention; 
and that is a principal form of “genetic engineering" to which we hope 
that research on recombinant DNA may one day contribute. 
The technique of recombination of DNA has already proved its power 
to illuminate for us the nature of the genetic apparatus which is the 
essence of life. And there is much, much more to be done. Accordingly, 
I beseech the power of the First Amendment in asking the Congress to 
abjure any legislation which, by accident or design, will limit the 
freedom of inquiry, save for express and compelling cause as elsewhere 
instructed by the Constitution ...” 
Although Handler agreed that until more evidence is in hand all 
research in this field should be conducted as specified by the NIH 
Guidelines, his final remarks include a note of warning regarding risks 
associated with legislative enforcement: 
"... Mr. Chairman, you who consider such legislation will ap- 
preciate that you have embarked on a thorny trail. The risk of violating 
that which we cherish under the First Amendment surely looms as large 
as the hypothetical risks against which these safeguards are being 
erected. And I am concerned that each instance of regulation of 
research will facilitate the next. Do be very careful. An excess of zeal to 
protect us against all risks, however minor, particularly when seen 
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