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1 subjected to examination or criticisms by others, with 
2 perhaps a greater knowledge of the study. Conflicting 
3 data need never come to light. A very fundamental 
4 scientific control involving peer review has been 
5 sidestepped. This goes to the very heart of the ethic 
6 of the scientific method. 
1 In the case of shotgun experiments, containment 
3 reduction has been based on the unwarranted extrapolation 
•i 
9 of limited data. It is, to say the least, premature to 
* 
10 conclude that all eukaryotic genes act through a messenger 
1! that cannot be processed in bacteria, and therefore cannot 
12 produce harmful products in bacteria. So far, this has 
13 been shown for only a handful of genes, although there are 
14 a million or so genes in a human cell. 
1 5 We consider it scientifically irresponsible 
15 to jump to conclusions in this way for public relations 
1 7 purposes, when no reputable scientist would make such 
10 gross extrapolations in his own work. 
19 The fundamental problem with the guidelines 
20 a nd their revisions is that they have been entrusted to 
21 NIH, the sponsor and promoter of progress in biological 
22 research, including recombinant DNA techniques, and to 
23 its Advisory Committee, which is composed largely of 
24 scientists working with recombinant DNA or in closely 
25 related fields. A conflict of interest is bound to 
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