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should certainly make every effort we can to understand how our lifestyle 
causes cancer, but we must also push forward on a more basic attack on the 
problem, and I believe that attack is made much easier by the ability to 
manipulate recombinant DNA molecules. 
Let me turn to another aspect of the guidelines. Has the process by 
which the guidelines have been arrived at a responsible one? Dr. Berg has 
outlined the history of the process that brings us here today, but we 
should all realize that the process is a unique one. It represents an 
attempt by a large segment of the community of biologists to play the role 
of public advocate. When we talk about public involvement in the decision- 
making process about science, I could not agree more that policy questions 
should not be left to scientists, but I think it is important to realize 
that when one is talking about a technical issue it is extremely critical 
to have public advocates among the specialists. 
The process outlined by Dr. Berg is a process by which a large propor- 
tion of the community of molecular biologists made themselves into public 
advocates and tried their best to protect the citizenry against the kinds 
of dangers that might potentially arise from their own research work. I 
think the final step, the hopefully final step in the process of generating 
these guidelines — that is, the meeting we are at today — is part of a 
very necessary process by which the public asks whether the advocates have 
in fact been advocating the needs of the public. 
Ultimately the public must decide what it wants and the scientists 
must translate those wants into specific policy. 
There is another aspect to the question of whether these guidelines are 
a responsible reaction to the potential threat posed by recombinant DNA work. 
Is it a sufficient response to release the guidelines for study sections to 
follow? Will that action guarantee that all recombinant work goes forward 
in a safe manner? There I feel the answer is no. All granting agencies, 
such as the American Cancer Society and the National Science Foundation, 
must adhere to the guidelines. And very importantly, industrial labora- 
tories that have an interest in recombinant DNA work should publicly an- 
nounce their intention to work within the guidelines. 
I think that anyone reading about a recombinant DNA experiment in a 
primary scientific journal should expect to find a statement about the 
safety aspects of the work. Journal editors should insist on such state- 
ments. Such a process would be, I think, the best safeguard against exper- 
iments that do not follow the guidelines because of the strong peer pressure 
on anyone reporting an experiment that was done without the appropriate 
containment . 
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