Harvard Medical School 
Massachusetts General Hospital 
Shriners Burns Institute 
Shriners Burns Institute 
51 Blossom Street 
Boston, Massachusetts 02114 
617-722-3000 
Cell Biology Unit 
October 23, 1984 
Director 
Office of Recombinant DNA Activities 
Building 31, Room 3B10 
National Institutes of Health 
Bethesda, Maryland 20205 
Dear Sir or Madam: 
I am writing to express my strong opposition to 
Mr. Jeremy Rifkin's proposal to prohibit experiments involving the 
transfer of genetic elements from one mammalian species into the 
germ line of another and the transfer of genes between animal cells 
and human germ lines. These proposals were presented in Mr. Rifkin's 
letters of 21 August 1984 and 23 August 1984 as noted in the Federal 
Register vol. 49, no. 184, pp. 37016-37017 on 20 September 1984. 
Germline gene transfers that produce transgenic progeny 
are essential to the understanding of mechanisms that regulate the 
expression of genes during embryonic development and the specificity 
of gene activity in differentiated organs. Furthermore, introduction 
of human genes into sheep and cattle could provide large quantities 
of human hormones and growth factors that are in extremely short 
supply and not accurately or completely processed in bacterial expres- 
sion systems. Insights gained into the control regions of genes may 
identify targets for more selective therapies and advance the quality 
of life for men and other species as well. This knowledge is certain 
to have profound impact on the understanding of mechanisms resulting 
in birth defects and the onset of cancer. 
Yours sincerely, 
QiU&kt V - 
Andre J. Ouellette, Ph.D. 
Associate Professor of Surgery 
(Biochemistry) 
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