Ch. 1 — Summary: Issues and Options • 25 
ISSl'E: Hou can I he level of public 
knou lecljj^e concemin^J jjenetics 
and its potential be raised? 
riiere ai'e some ecliieators wlio beliexe that 
too little time is sptMit on gtMieties within the 
traditional educational system. Outside the 
traditional school s\ stem, a niimhei- of sources 
may contrihute to increased puhlic understand- 
ing of science and the relationship between 
science and societw 
Efforts to increase puhlic understanding 
should, of course, he combined w ith carefully 
designed exaluation programs so that the effec- 
ti\ eness of a pi'ogi'am can he assessed. 
OP'nOXS: 
Proii,nims could h(’ dcvcloiwd to increase 
iniblic underslaiuiin^ of science and the rela- 
tionship lyelween science, lechnoloi\\ , and 
society. 
Puhlic und»*rstanding ol science in today's 
world is ('ssenlial. and th('re is concern about 
th(' ad<*{|uacy of the public's know U‘dg('. 
B. Programs could he established to monitor the 
level of public understanding of genetics and 
of science in general, and to determine wheth- 
er public concern with decisionmaking in 
science and technology' is increasing. 
Selecting this option would indicate that 
there is need for additional information, and 
that Congress is interested in invoking the 
public index eloping science policy. 
C. The copyright laws could be amended to per- 
mit schools to videotape television programs 
for educational purposes. 
Under current copyright law, x ideotaping tel- 
evision programs as they are being broadcast 
may infringe on the rights of the program’s 
owner, generally its producer. The legal status 
of such tapes is presently the subject of litiga- 
tion. 
In favor of this option, it should be noted that 
many of the programs are made at least in part 
with public funds. Removing the copyright con- 
straint on schools would make these programs 
more available for another public good, educa- 
tion. On the other hand, this option could have 
significant economic conseciuences to the copy- 
right owner, whose market is often limited to 
educational institutions. 
ISSUE: Sboiild Congress begin prepar- 
ing nou' to resolve issues tbat 
bave not yet aroused mucb pub- 
lic debate but wbicb may in tbe 
future? 
.As scientific understanding of genetics and 
the ability to manipulate inherited character- 
istics develo[)s, society may face some difficult 
c|uestions that could involve tradeoffs between 
individual freedom and the needs of society. 
I'his will he increasingly the case as genetic 
technologies are a|)plied to humans. Develop- 
ments are occurring rapidly. Recombinant DNA 
technologx’ was develoj)ed in the 1970’s. In the 
spring of 1980, investigators succeeded in the 
first gene replacement in mammals; in the fall 
of 1980, the first gene substitution in humans 
was attempted. 
Although this study was restricted to nonhu- 
man applications, many people assume from 
these and other examples that what can be done 
with lower animals can be done with humans 
and will he. Therefore, some action might be 
taken to better prepare society for decisions on 
the application of genetic technologies to 
humans. 
OPTIONS: 
A. A commission could be established to identify 
central issues, the probable time frame for ap- 
plication of various genetic technologies to 
humans, and the probable effects on society, 
and to suggest courses of action. The commis- 
sion might also consider the related area of 
how participatory democracy might be com- 
bined with representative democracy in deci- 
sionmaking. 
B. The life of the President's Commission could 
be extended for the study of Ethical Problems 
in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Re- 
search, for the purpose of addressing these 
issues. 
