“Irwin D J. Bross. Ph D 
Director of Biostatistics 
Roswell Park Memorial Institute 
666 Elm Street 
Buffalo. N Y 14263 
No opinions n,r. i<pi«M« iftoolO b* conslru^l tt r»«l#cting official positions of tha administration ol 
Roswaii Park Mamonal Inalltuta or of tha N V Suta Haalth Dapartmani 
October 5, 1979 
Dr. Donald Fredrickson 
Director 
National Institutes of Health 
Bethesda, Maryland 20014 
Dear Dr. Fredrickson: 
I am writing to support the position of Francine Robinson 
Simring and the Coalition for Responsible Genetic Research. In her 
letter she makes a number of specific points which I need not repeat. 
She also mentions a "biological Three Mile Island accident" that suggests 
some further analogies that the Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee might 
think about. 
As is emerging from the investigations of Three Mile Island, 
the utility did not realize the inherent dangers of its rather sloppy 
administrative procedures and had almost no understanding of the nature 
of the health hazards of low-level ionizing radiation. A cozy relation- 
ship existed at the time between the Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
(where nuclear technologists make decisions about their own technology) 
and utilities. Both believed the myth that compliance with NRC regulations 
insured safety and this is why the dangerous practices at Three Mile 
Island continued until the eventual accident occurred. Now there is 
heavy pressure to take the decision-making away from technologists at 
N.R.C. The trend seems to be to go back to ordinary political processes 
of decision-making, even for "technical^decisions . 
I would suggest that the Recominant DNA Advisory Committee 
look upon Three Mile Island as a warning of things to come. Hopefully, 
it could be a way to avoid making the same mistakes. The Committee 
certainly has the power to make irresponsible decisions. The real 
question is: Does it have the wisdom to avoid them? The Committee 
decisions here may jeopardize the future of many persons and institutions-- 
many individuals and groups that have only limited connection, if any, 
with recombinant DNA research. A bad decision could affect the support 
of biological and medical scientists as a group, the support of the 
National Institutes of Health as an entity, and ultimately the support 
of the entire scientific and technical community. A fear and distrust 
of nuclear physicists has resulted from Three Mile Island. An erosion 
of confidence in scientists and government experts has resulted from the 
DC-10 and other incidents. A bad decision here will add to the growing 
support for a Proposition 13 approach for coping with government agencies 
and further extend the wide-spread public disenchantment with science 
and technology. 
[ 343 ] 
