Dr. Gartland 
October 20, 1984 
Page 2 
Mr. Rifkin's concern for disappearance of germ lines is unfounded. There 
are widespread and active programs to preserve fundamental germ lines from all 
over the world. This is particularly true for crop plants. Germ plasm 
collections provide the raw materials and genetic diversity that are the 
fundamental base for selection of specific genetic characteristics. It is 
already well recognized that basic germ lines must be preserved as this is the 
basic natural library of genetic information that must be drawn upon in the 
future, in ways that cannot currently be anticipated. 
Insofar as germ line preservation is concerned, genetic transfer holds 
great promise that some endangered species may be saved from extinction by 
virtue of incorporating survival traits from one species to another. 
We stress that not a single risk scenario has materialized in the past 15 
years since the introduction of recombinant DNA technology and its present 
widespread application. We agree, however, that whatever risks are involved 
or ethical values challenged should be carefully considered and weighed 
against the benefits derived by such experimentation. We endorse the practice 
of subjecting such genetic experimentation of both intra and interspecies 
nature to the scrutiny and criticism, when merited, of the Recombinant 
Advisory Committee as well as an institution's Biological Safety Committee and 
(if appropriate) to its Human Subject and Animal Experimentation Committees as 
well. But, like R.A.C.'s evaluation of specific genetic experimentation, when 
regulations are introduced to prohibit or restrict such research they should 
be subject to the same careful evaluation of risks and benefits before they 
are enacted. 
We believe that the appropriate mechanisms are already in place for the 
conduct of such research and that it would be superfluous to add new ones. We 
reject the unsubstantiated notion that interspecies genetic transfer must be 
prohibited solely for the sake of genetic integrity. In all probability, germ 
line integrity does not exist in nature because of the widespread gene flow 
vectored by viruses and other vehicles for natural interspecies transfer. 
We urge the R.A.C. to reject the Rifkin proposals. 
(signatures on following pages) 
University of Wisconsin-Madison 
[ 549 ] 
