31 
was first addressed during the call for a moratorium on certain kinds 
of experiments several years ago. It is his opinion at the moment 
that the risks which are being discussed in the popular press are 
widely overstated. The NIH guidelines as they have evolved provide 
for either a total ban on undesirable experiments or biological and 
physical containment provisions which appear to be entirely adequate 
to cope with this latter type of risk. 
Dr. Signer 
Ethan Signer, Professor of Biology, MIT, was quite positive in his 
view that there is no need to accept any risk for DNA recombinant 
research simply on the basis of benefits which have been hypothe- 
sized. For each benefit which has been identified, he pointed out that 
alternative methods could be utilized to obtain the information. For 
example, he suggests that improvements in current methods for 
isolatmg insulin from biological materials could prove to be more 
effective and safer than a method involving culturing through DNA 
recombinant molecule methods. An attempt to resolve the world food 
problem by improvements in photosyntnetic efficiency or through 
expansion of the nitrogen fixing capability in plants is an attempt to 
solve the wrong problems. According to Dr. Signer, the world food 
problem is a distribution problem exacerbated by political decisions. 
Reductions in requirements for nitrogen fertilizers will do little to 
alleviate these social maladjustments. Technological solutions, in 
other words, particularly with sophisticated techniques like DNA 
recombinant research, are not the practical solutions needed at this 
time. He views the DNA recombinant molecule research method as 
just another tool and one which should be outlawed on an interna- 
tional basis. He does not think that any method for controlling the 
use of the technique can ever be effective. Since it is relatively simple 
to conduct research by this technique, he expressed the opinion that 
effective control of containment or methods will be impossible and 
that, after an initial flush of concern, researchers will gradually de- 
velop a contempt for the guidelines. The longer the work continues 
without an accident the more any initial concern will be reduced. 
High containment research will be moved to lower containment 
requirements as risk perceptions are reduced. From this position, he 
feels that eventually there will be an accident which will result in the 
release into the environment of some recombinant DNA molecule 
which will have unexpected and unpredictable adverse effects on a 
widespread scale. Since we know next to nothing about ecological 
imbalances, there is no way to measure the potential for such risks. 
Further, he stated that DNA recombinant molecule research will 
move us closer to the probability that actual genetic engineering of 
human beings will be possible. And if such a possibility occurs, tnen 
it is his opinion that the technology will be used. For this reason, he 
believes that the research should not be permitted to continue. 
Dr. Nathans 
In his analysis of the potential risk for either producing new p*ath o- 
genic strains of micro-organisms or for seriously disturbing natural 
evolutionary processes, Daniel Nathans, stated that it appeared to him 
21 - 754—7 
6 
[Appendix B — 80] 
