SLOAN-KETTERING INSTITUTE for GANGER RESEARGH 
Dr. William Gartland 
Director, Office of Recombinant 
DNA Activity 
Bldg. 31, Rm. 4A52 
National Institutes of Health 
Bethesda, Maryland 20205 
Dear Dr. Gartland and Members of the RAC: 
The deliberate release of any man-made material into the environ- 
ment ought to be regulated by law, since the environment belongs to 
everyone. This is particularly true if there is a potential for 
danger or if the specific long-range effects can only be guessed at. 
It is therefore irresponsible for the RAC and ORDA to appear to 
condone the release of any and all genetically engineered organisms. 
A strong recommendation for congressional action to control such 
emissions would make this action more socially responsible. It is 
not too soon to think about who will be to blame when a biological 
Agent Orange or PCB turns up - and it assuredly will turn up eventually. 
Biologists are no less error-prone than chemists and other human beings. 
DONALD S. WALKER LABORATORY, 145 BOSTON POST RD., RYE. N. Y. 10580 
914-898-1 too 
January 12, 1982 
Yours sincerely 
Barbara H. Rosenberg, Ph.D. 
Associate Member, Sloan-Kettering 
Institute 
Associate Professor of Biochemistry, 
Graduate School of Medical Sciences 
Cornell University 
BHR/nc 
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