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in depth the full application of recombinant DNA technology to the advance- 
ment of knowledge in plant breeding and genetics, plant nutrition including 
nitrogen fixation, plant physiology and biochemistry, and plant pathology." 
This has been brought up in some of the discussion before, and I would just 
like to say that it expresses very well my point of view also. 
Then I would like to read from an article by Dr. Peter Day who, as you 
know, could not be here, which appeared in Science not too long ago. "It is 
clearly too early to begin to assess the implications of recombinant DNA 
techniques for increasing crop plant yield. The redesign and improvement of 
any complex mechanism depends on understanding how it works. The contribu- 
tions to studies of genetic structure, regulation, and function in higher 
plants that are likely to result from work in this field can hardly fail to 
contribute to the breeding of better crops. Immediate goals are to use the 
methods we now have to isolate specific crop-plant genes and to develop and 
refine methods for achieving frequencies of transformation high enough to be 
useful to a breeder. We will then see whether or not the introduction of 
short foreign DNA sequences has a disruptive effect on the genetic systems 
of modern crop cultivars." 
Other than just bringing these things to your attention, I would like to 
say that as I have read over the proposed revisions, I don't see anything in 
them that tells about the mechanisms for future revisions. We talk about it 
continually, and I couldn't find anything myself that really said how or 
when this would happen. I also find nothing that tells me how the Recombi- 
nant Advisory Committee members are chosen; what is the basis for choosing 
these members? These are two questions I have which I hope eventually will 
be explained to me. 
DR. FREDRICKSON: Dr. Duvick, you have your own company, is that right? 
DR. DUVICK: I am an employee of my company. I don't own it. 
DR. FREDRICKSON: I understand. But you are technically on the seed 
and fermentation side of — 
DR. DUVICK: Not fermentation. We develop and sell improved varieties 
of crop plants. We are not in fermentation at all. To class me with some 
of the members of industry who are interested in this aspect is much wider 
than putting apples and oranges together. It is apples and cactus, perhaps. 
And I think of myself as the cactus. 
(Laughter . ) 
DR. FREDRICKSON: Dr. Duvick, you might be, then, as a relatively small 
entrepreneur, or as a representative of a group of small entrepreneurs, one 
who might be using recombinant techniques for improving plant stocks in the 
future. Is that correct? 
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