is a need to determine why this TIL therapy works for some 
patients but not for others. The proposal involves the insertion 
of a bacterial gene into a disabled retrovirus which, in turn, is 
inserted into the cells in question. This procedure thus 
provides the means to "mark" the TIL so that they can later be 
isolated from the patient. Researchers will thus be able to test 
tumor samples for the presence of the TIL. 
As pointed out by the researchers, "since the added gene 
becomes a permanent and stable part of the cell, the TIL and all 
its offspring would be marked in such a way that these cells 
could always, it is postulated, be identified and re-isolated . . 
. (Submission by researchers.) While there is some potential 
for future benefit to the patient from the addition of the 
marker, the primary benefit will inure to future patients because 
of the knowledge that may be gained about TIL therapy from use of 
the marker. 
Precedent for the institutional arrangements that will 
govern both the review and recommendations regarding gene therapy 
proposals is being established by the NIH now by its actions on 
the TIL therapy marker gene proposal and other submissions that 
may be expected. It is, therefore, of the greatest urgency that 
the committee requested by this petition be established promptly. 
Without either denigrating or espousing the potential 
benefits of gene therapy from a medical standpoint, it cannot be 
disputed that human genetic therapy proposals will present highly 
complex and controversial philosophical, ethical, civil 
liberties, and eugenics issues and related social and economic 
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Recombinant DNA Research, Volume 13 
