TESTIMONY PRESENTED TO THE 
HEW HEARINGS ON THE 
PROPOSED REVISED GUIDELINES 
September 15, 1978 
My name is Thomas Blessing. I presently serve as the Drain Commissioner 
for Washtenaw County, Michigan. The position is a county-wide elected 
position serving a population of 260,000. Prior to involvement in the 
public policy questions of my present position, I gained detailed experience 
in air handling equipment as head of Research and Planning of the City 
of St. Paul's Air Pollution Control Agency. If one couples this experience 
with ray work as a Research Assistant in a laboratory studying photo- 
synthetic bacteria, I believe I can offer a unique perspective to the 
public policy questions that arise from recombinant DNA research. 
I intend to discuss primarily the policy questions. Others will be 
addressing the technical problems with the revisions. I must state at 
the outset that, quite clearly, the decision-making on this issue has 
been dominated by a scientific community enamoured with visions of new 
discoveries and exciting breakthroughs. An I am not surprised. Many of 
these visions may be fulfilled. Recombinant DNA research technology is 
a powerful biological tool. And the NIH has responded to this enthusiasm 
and not responded to statements calling for caution. 
Statements throughout the introduction refer to "overwhelming 
sentiment" (p. 33043), "growing sentiment" (p. 33044) and "general 
endorsement" (p. 33051). This seems to be used as the justification for 
initiating the relaxation of standards. The fact that this "sentiment" 
and "endorsement" consists almost exclusively of those with a vested 
interest in rapid, unfettered research is conveniently set aside. The 
policy questions and social risks of a tool as powerful as recombinant 
DNA research are simply being ignored by the present decision-makers. 
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