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sexy as ligating pieces of DNA from different species together. First, we 
have known for a long time that the rubella virus produces severe congenital 
defects in the embryo and fetus; and now we have learned that the rubella 
vaccine itself, administered during pregnancy, is also a teratogen. Should 
society mandate vaccination of females before reproductive age, or how should 
this problem be handled to protect the unborn from the ravages of the rubella 
virus? 
Second, we have an effective diet which prevents mental retardation in 
infants with PKU. Neonatal testing identifies these infants at risk, and 
they are placed on a low phenylalanine diet. Everything goes nicely; they 
develop normally and can reproduce. But the catch-22 is that the pregnant 
PKU female causes severe mental retardation and other serious congenital 
defects in her unborn but non-PKU fetus. Now, what is the proper societal 
response to this problem? It is a problem that has been brought to light 
by scientists, but the solution to the problem should come from society. 
Well, I hope this exercise in public participation in the evaluation 
of recombinant DNA research can be used as a model for NIH to investigate 
other, more pressing social issues which arise out of biological research. 
I will submit these specific comments on the Guidelines in writing. 
DR. FREDRICKSON: Thank you very much, Dr. Shaw. 
Dr. A. Karim Ahmed is a member and staff scientist of the National 
Resources Defense Council in New York. Dr. Ahmed. 
DR. AHMED: I would like to start by first mentioning how the last two 
days have been not only interesting, but extremely informative. I would like 
to commend the Director for having convened such a panel, and the openness 
of the proceedings should really be appreciated by everyone here. 
I agree with Mr. Helms that one of the most important things in any 
issue of this kind is communications. I would also like to bring up another 
matter which I think is equally important, and that is credibility. Just as 
you used the concept of communications to present your views, I will use 
credibility as a way of presenting my views on this whole issue. 
Let me trace it this way . Over and over again in the last two days, we 
kept asking questions pertaining to how credible is your information. Often 
we had information that seemed to have been only present in the unpublished 
literature, for example, and these were brought out from time to time. We 
don't really know what these bits of information are. So it really goes 
to the credibility of process and also the credibility of the information. 
Both are very critical in making a good judgment on matters that pertain to 
scientific activities. 
The other aspect is NIH's role in this whole research area. Dr. Fred- 
rickson has already mentioned his own views about this. He apparently does 
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