3 
interpreted as being "anti-science" or "anti-knowledge"; since I have been 
trained in the sciences and occupy a position at a university, my questioning 
of the procedures under which scientific research is conducted should not 
result in such implications. 
My work in such areas as technology assessment has led me to understand that 
one of the most fundamental sets of questions that needs to be asked when con- 
sidering new scientific and technological development concerns not only the 
attempt to anticipate the probable future consequences of such activity, but to 
attempt also to disaggregate those concequences by asking who actually would 
bear the risks associated with new developments, who would be paying the costs, 
and who would have access to the potential benefit. In regard to work in the 
area of recombinant DNA, it is clear to me that members of the general public 
fall into all three of such categories. Much, if not most, of this research 
is supported by tax dollars paid by the general citizenry; risks to health, 
safety, and the environment would be widely shared; and the benefits which 
have been suggested for such research would affect many sectors of society. 
Thus, I believe that members of the general citizenry have a fundamental right 
to participate in decision-making in this area, and a basic problem that I 
have with the proposed revisions of the Guidelines is that they do not recog- 
nize this situation nor facilitate access by individual citizens and their 
organized groups in the decision-making and regulatory process. Although it 
is commendable that scientists working in the area of recombinant DNA initially 
called the attention of the public and regulatory officials to issues raised 
by such research, in general the regulation of research in this area to date 
has been characterized by very limited opportunities for meaningful formal 
input on the part of such persons as scientists in other but related disciplines, 
non-scientif ic professionals with relevant perspectives, and ordinary citizens. 
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