WHITEHEAD INSTITUTE 
Dr. David Baltimore 
Director 
John Pratt 
Associate Director 
617/258-5104 
September 26, 1984 
Dr, William J. Gartland 
Executive Secretary, RAC 
National Institute of Allergy 
and Infectious Diseases 
National Institutes of Health 
Bethesda, MD 20205 
Dear Bill, 
I am writing in response to Jeremy Rifkin's proposals for 
Guideline changes for the 29 October 1984 RAC meeting. 
I oppose this proposal on a number of grounds. 
First, it would seriously hamper experimental research. The 
transfer of genes from one species into another is often a necessary 
part of protocols designed to understand how inserted genes behave in 
host organisms. If the gene is not foreign to the host species, its 
activity is often impossible to distinguish from that of endogenous 
genes. 
Second, in situations where genes are being inserted for 
practical reason — like raising animals more efficiently, the same 
reasoning holds. In situations where an intact gene must be used, the 
necessity for a foreign gene would be difficult to get around. 
The third reason is that Rifkin's proposal is based on what seems 
to me to be an idiosyncratic religious precept which can have no role 
in rational discussion. He venerates species and considers them 
sacrosanct. He even seems to understand the telos (end or purpose) of 
the human species, a question on which many people would have 
differing opinions. I personally view a gene as a piece of DNA that 
has evolved from precursors into its present form. During that 
evolution it was honed into a fairly effective part of a larger system 
of genes and therefore it is adapted to functioning in its own 
species. Where two species are similar in their behavior, genes may 
be interchangeable among species * where the species have disparate 
needs, gene interchange could be deleterious. It is, however, an 
experimental question, not a religious one. Genes of human and dogs 
are not imprinted with human or canine qualities ; they are parts of 
systems and often they are virtually identical. 
Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research / Nine Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142 617/258-5000 
