STATEMENT OF NACHAMA L. WILKER 
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, COMMITTEE FOR RESPONSIBLE GENETICS 
BEFORE THE RECOMBINANT DNA ADVISORY COMMITTEE, 
NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH 
SEPTEMBER 29, 1986 
My name is Nachama Wilker, I am the Executive Director of 
the Committee for Responsible Genetics ( CRG ) . The Committee 
for Responsible Genetics is a national non-profit organization 
composed of scientists, public health and public policy 
professionals, trade unionists, bioethicists and other 
citizens with a track record of concern for the assessment of 
societal aspects in biotechnology. The CRG is dedicated to 
insuring the development of biotechnology that allows for 
broad public participation. We appreciate the opportunity to 
appear before you today to share our comments on our proposal 
to modify section III-A-4 of the NIH guidelines. 
I would like to address my comments today to three issues 
that have been raised by the Working Group on Human Gene 
Therapy in response to our proposal: 1) Why draw the line for 
genetic engineering of somatic cells at life threatening or 
severely disabling conditions? 2) Why make a distinction 
between the Points to Consider document and the more permanent 
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