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these types of experiments. Dr. Rapp said he favored Dr. Gottesman's 
motion. 
Dr. Holmes said Mr. Rifkin and the RAC do have differences in perspective; 
however, it's not that RAC only sees the benefits where Mr. Rifkin only sees 
the risks. The difference in world view is that seeing both the risks ard 
benefits, Mr. Rifkin would prohibit seeking the benefits whereas the RAC 
would prefer to press on to try and maximize the benefits while minimizing 
the risks. 
Dr. Joklik said many RAC members have thought about these types of problems 
for many years; the aim of biomedical research has been to make our children 
and our children's children healthier. 
Dr. Joklik said a difficulty in cocrmunicating with Mr. Rifkin is that as 
soon as one of Mr. Rifkin' s concerns is allayed, another concern surfaces. 
Dr. Jcklik said Mr. Rifkin new asks how scientists can be sure this new 
technology will provide benefits for mankind. Reccmbinant DMA is the means 
for answering many questions. Ten years after the inception of this new 
technique, so much more about the workings of the human cell and the human 
organism is known, including a mere detailed knowledge of the nature of 
human genetic material. In addition, we new have the ability to manipulate 
the genetic material. One simply has to ask oneself how much more will we 
knew in another ten years, a very short time in the experience of mankind. 
Dr. Jcklik said Mr. Rifkin was attempting to arrest a process which has 
been spectacularly successful. 
Dr. Walters asked Dr. Gottesman if she would accept a friendly amendment to 
her motion; he proposed to add to the motion the notion of protecting animal 
welfare as well as human welfare through a better understanding of animal 
diseases. Dr. Gottesman agreed to add such language to her motion. 
Dr. McKinney, the seconder of the motion, also agreed. 
Dr. Landy said RAC is saying it is unconscionable to prohibit exploring 
this avenue of research. He asked Mr. Rifkin if there are any exanples in 
history where a social problem has been successfully solved before the 
technology was developed to address the problem. 
Mr. Rifkin said the Iroquois nation of North America had a civilized and 
advanced culture. These people followed a specific procedure whenever 
they considered seme environmental, social, or cultural change. They 
asked in the deliberation process what effect the preposed change would 
have seven generations in the future. In some cases, the Iroquois decided 
the particular change would have more costs than benefits and decided not 
to implement it. 
Mr. Rifkin said genetic engineering is one approach to the future; it is 
not the only approach. He emphasized that there are other approaches to 
solving problems. He offered as an example atterrpts to deal with heart 
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