hearings should be held in conjunction with all major decisions. 
The working of a newly-constituted and more widely representative 
committee under the Secretary of HEW could be viewed as a trial or test 
system to determine whether existing laws and regulations are adequate > 
or whether additional Federal legislation will ultimately be needed -- 
and if so, what type of legislation could best insure that the public 
interest is not overshadowed by the undoubtedly important but subsidiary 
claims of biological research and its commercial application. If 
legislation is required, there is clearly no consensus at present as 
to its form; the present self-regulation under the NIH has only served 
to polarize opinions and to cut off bonafide exchange of ideas. A new 
experiment is called for. Even if it should prove to be a temporary 
expedient, it will provide much-needed new data on which to base future decisions. 
[ 380 ] 
