Irwin D J. Bross. Ph D 
Director of Biostatistics 
Roswell Fark Memorial Institute 
666 Elm Street 
Buffalo. N Y 14263 
No itD'MMd iftookS CM con*irtMO u r»«#ciing o«te.«l poxliont of tn. •dminxtntion ol 
Ro«w»i P»r» Uomonol InalituM of ol IfM N V SUM MMIth D*p»rtm#nt 
November 20, 1979 
Dr. Patricia Harris 
Secretary 
Department of Health, Education 
and Welfare 
330 Independence Avenue, S.W. 
Washington, D.C. 20201 
Dear Dr. Harris: 
NIH Director Donald Fredrickson's decision exempting nearly 
all research on genetic engineering from regulation sets a very bad 
precedent and should be reconsidered. 
If a panel of technologists can exempt themselves from regulations 
designed to protect the public against misuses of their technology, then 
such regulations are meaningless. They are merely a fraud on the public. 
The Coalition of Responsible Genetic Research and other 
concerned citizens groups have had faith in political processes and in 
protecting the public by federal regulations. These are the intelligent 
people who have long supported the research budgets of the federal 
agencies against "know-nothing" efforts to cut out such luxuries. They 
are becoming disillusioned. 
They are coming to realize that there is no way to bring the 
federal agencies to their senses by common sense or reason and that 
there may be only one way to cope with genetic engineering juggernauts'. 
If you cannot control the programs, eliminate the budgets of 
the agencies that support the programs. 
There seems nothing else left. 
IDJB/mak 
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