Attachment III - Page 17 
FOUNDATION ON ECONOMIC TRENDS 
1346 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 1010 Washington, DC 20036, (202) 466-2823 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE For more information: 
Monday, February 6, 1984 Beth Bogart 202/745-0707 
Marylin McDonald 202/466-2823 
"ARMS CONTROL IMPACT STATEMENT" REQUESTED 
FOR DOD TOXIN EXPERIMENT 
Washington, D.C. — The Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee (RAC) — the govern- 
ment's principal genetic-engineering regulatory authority — was formally requested to 
table action on a Defense Department request to clone a "Shiga toxin" (a gene-mutation 
experiment) until an Arms Control Impact Statement (ACIS) has been done on this new 
technology, as required by federal law. 
The formal request to the National Institutes of Health's RAC asked that an ACIS be 
completed to comply with Section 36(a) (3) of the Arms Control and Disarmament Act 
which requires an analysis of any "program involving technology with potential military 
application." 
The Shiga toxin experiment has such potential because, according to renowned scientists 
in the field, there is no adequate way to properly distinguish between peaceful uses of 
deadly toxins and military uses. 
RAC members have previously noted that recombinant DNA experiments being conducted 
by various branches of the U.S. armed forces have the "potential" to be used in slightly 
altered or modified form for weapons development. 
Such weapons development would be in violation of the 1972 treaty signed by the United 
States which unconditionally bans biological warfare experimentation. 
The formal request to RAC demanding an ACIS on the Shiga toxin experiment was signed 
by Paul Warnke, former director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency and chief 
negotiator for SALT II; Rep. Ron Dellums (D-CA), chairman of the House Armed Services 
Committee's subcommittee on installations and facilities; Admiral Gene LaRocque, 
director, Center for Defense Information; Herbert Scoville, former deputy director of 
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