identified as potential victims of certain genetic defects. At 
this time, there are no federal standards or protocols to govern 
the social and commercial applications of human genetic 
engineering. In the absence of any statutory protection, the 
regulatory arrangements adopted by the NIK in this area will be 
of paramount importance in protecting the rights of members of 
vulnerable groups most affected by genetic engineering. It is 
therefore essential that the Human Eugenics Advisory Committee be 
established to protect the interests of these constituencies. 
The HEAC would review human genetic therapy proposals at the same 
time as the RAC and would make its own recommendations to the 
Director of NIH based on its own expertise, interests, and 
perspectives . 
It is essential that the HEAC and the RAC be constituted as 
separate bodies to ensure recommendations to the Director of NIH 
that encompass the broad range of issues raised by this new 
technology. This recommendation for the creation of the HEAC 
follows in the wake of the RAC's experience in reviewing 
proposals for the deliberate release of recombinant organisms 
into the environment. In that instance, the RAC never developed 
the broad ecological expertise that would be required to deal 
adequately with the great number and variety of such proposals 
now being submitted to federal agencies. Accordingly, the NIH 
Guidelines now provide that even where the RAC and the NIH retain 
jurisdiction over such proposals, NIH defers to those agencies 
who have asserted primary jurisdiction over such matters. 
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Recombinant DNA Research, Volume 13 
