THE ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY

pro bono humani generis
1230 YORK AVENUE - NEW YORK, NEW YORK. 10021-6399

Joshua Lederberg
UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR

May 19, 1994
Hon. Richard Dantzig
Undersecretary of the Navy
Washington DC

Dear Dick:

I enjoyed lunch with you on the 17th, and hope we may expand that to a symposium (i.e.
drink and early dinner) in the near future.

Looking over my rough anticipatory notes, and the balance of technical and behaviorally
leveraged investments needed, I see that I neglected to bring up one item, namely “clean
hands" on our part.

We need to do a more convincing job of persuading both domestic and international
constituencies that we are not merely arrogating a monopoly of BW technological capability
to ourselves. This is difficult to do as long as we have a) technological supremacy in
biomedical science, and b) by necessity some degree of secrecy about BW defensive research.
Minimizing the latter is appropriate; but I recommend that be bolstered by establishing some
formal inter-agency oversight on the BW-DRP. This could be an advisory board reporting
either to OSTP or to the President, with representatives from DoD, DHHS, Intel; perhaps one
or two legislators; and importantly two or three biomedical figures outside of government. Its
main missions would be to a) be informed about the totality of defense research having any
BW implications; b) be reassured that this is published to the maximum degree feasible, or if
not, that it can be certified as complying with the BWC in the same measure as we expect
from other states; and as an added merit c) to assist in coordinating research and policy
planning as between military and civilian capabilities and needs.

Such a board might disarm critics such as those congressmen who have repeatedly
demanded the transfer of military biomedical research to the NIH. This would do great

danger to support of US research for international health, for which there has been a glorious
tradition in the role of the US Army in dealing with, say, yellow fever and malaria.

sincerely,

\
oghua Lederberg
Some possible dates for dinner:

(1’ll be in town for:)

June 2 --- NIH - ACD Director

June 28 -- DoD Blue Ribbon panel on BDRP
June 30 -- Risk Assessment Commission

I also have the DSB May 25-26; but I was planning to attend the DSB dinner for Jim Wolsey
on the 25th. I’ll be presenting the report of the task force on Gulf War Veterans health
problems at 1430 on May 25. Main conclusion: no etiological link is established between
gulf war exposures and subsequent complaints -- the latter being not unlike what is found in
civilian populations and called "chronic fatigue syndrome", for which stress may also be a
precipitating cause.
Professor Joshua Lederberg
The Rockefeller University
New York, N Y 10021-6399

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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