A 
SSOCIATION OF 
P ROFESSORS 
Gynecology and 0 
of Uynecology and Ubstetrics 
600 Mar land Avenue, SW, Suite 300 East 
Washington, D.C. 20024-2591 
September 10, 1984 
Dr. William Gartland 
Executive Secretary 
Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee 
National Institutes of Health 
Building 31, Room 3B10 
9000 Rockville Pike 
Bethesda, Maryland 20205 
Dear Dr. Gartland, 
As President of The Association of Professors of Gynecology and 
Obstetrics I am writing to you vigorously opposing the proposed ammendment 
to the NIH Guidelines for recombinant DNA experimentation sent to you by 
Jeremy Rifkin of the Foundation on Economic Trends. Specifically, he proposes: 
"The NIH prohibits any experimentation involving the transfer of 
a genetic trait from one mammalian species into the germ line of 
another unrelated mammalian species. "Unrelated" shall be defined 
as any two species that cannot mate and produce one generation 
of offspring either in the wild or under pre-existing domestic breeding 
programs." 
This seems to us to represent the worst in opposition to scientific advancement 
and perhaps one of the best examples of obfuscation which has reached our 
attention in recent years. 
The knowledge to be gained and the potential good to be achieved far 
outweighs the objections raised by Mr. Rifkin. I think it is unlikely that any 
reasonable person intends changing any mammalian species into a facsimile 
or whatever of any other species. The research is intended to gain knowledge 
into the function of chromosomes and genes and to approach the problem of 
correction of genetic errors such as diabetes mellitus, genetic birth defects, 
etc. 
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