20 
Dr. Clcwes said one philosophical argunent advanced by a number of geneti- 
cists and stated by Dr. Maxine Singer of the National Institutes of Health 
is that: 
"The notion that a species has a telos (a purpose) contravenes every- 
thing we knew about biology. A species can have, and may in the past 
have had a telos (an end) namely extinction. That is the only telos 
known to exist. No species we knew of has a fixed genome. Quite the 
contrary. Genetic studies throughout this century have again arri again 
confirmed that the genetic makeup of organisms within a species is 
continually charging through recombination, mutation, deletion, 
duplication, rearrangement and the insertion of ENA sequences. Recent 
experiments have, in anything, shown us that this remarkable plasticity 
is more extensive than we imagined and is a fundamental property of 
living matter." 
Dr. Clones said a number of letters emphasized the potential practical 
aspects of gene transfer experimentation. Dr. Donald Brown, Director, 
Carnegie Institution of Washington, states: 
"The introduction of foreign genes into the germline of mammals other 
than humans has many potential benefits for mankind. Genetic charges 
by modem methods can be done rapidly and with much greater precision 
than conventional breeding and selection programs." 
Dr. Clcwes then quoted from a letter from Dr. David Kunkle, Assistant 
Professor at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston who wrote 
he opposed Mr. Rifkin's proposal because: 
"If adopted ... [the proposal] would have a most far-reaching adverse 
inpact on a promising future approach to the treatment of human genetic 
diseases. Some of these diseases caused by enzyme deficiencies in a 
well-defined target area may soon prove amenable to treatment by somatic 
gene therapy in which the wild type gene would be introduced in somatic 
cells of the affected organs.... Obviously, detailed animal experiments 
would have to precede any possible human trials of such a scheme . 
Since animal models of only a few genetic diseases are available, most 
of such experiments would attempt to detect expression of exogenous 
genes against a wild type background. To establish definitively the 
nature of any increased expression, heterologous genes would have to 
be used. But it is precisely those experiments vshich Mr. Rifkin now 
seeks to ban. Thus, his proposal would forever seal off this premising 
area of research." 
Dr. Clcwes said the American public had expressed its point of view on this 
topic and called attention to the several hundred letters from individuals 
opposed to the proposed prohibition. Dr. Clcwes quoted from a letter from 
Ms. Kristie Baird of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, who wrote, "I believe that 
anytime it is possible to save people's lives, it should be done." 
[152] 
