THE JACKSON LABORATORY BAR HARBOR, MAINE

Dear Members,

I hope very much that each and every one of you will very soon
(before J March, if at all possible) mail to me your copy of the enclosed
postcard, identifying yourself (for the records only) and checking re-
sponse 1, response 2, or response 3. Of course, the members of the ad hoc
committee (James F. Crow, Harrison Echols, Walter E. Nance, Janice B.
Spotford, J. R. G. Turner, with myself as chairman) will be particularly
pleased to receive large numbers of votes for "response 1," but we would
much rather get response 2 or 3 than to be left in doubt. This statement
is not intended as an official stand of the Society as a body, but rather
as a careful assessment of the topic, which "X" members of the Society
are willing to endorse.

Throughout the long and devoted labors of the ad hoc committee
Since last August, the members have kent in mind last spring's original
version of the statement, which received a strong positive response but
which also elicited many important suggestions and criticisms, We also
considered very seriously the secend version presented by Oliver Smithies
to the 1975 Annual Meeting. We have been greatly helped by contributions
from added consultants (Douglas Futuyma, Robert F. Murray, and Sewall
Wright). The single mest important part of cur activities was a full
day's meeting as a group at the O'Hare Airport in Chicago on 23 November.
We hope we have addressed all salient questiors, made no false claims,
and represented fairly the variations of attitude possible among members
of the Genetics Society. We hope that the resulting docuiment will be use-
ful in increasing public understanding in a difficult but important area.
The magnitude of its impact depends on the size of the vote, Genetics
Society members number more than 2,600, 1 hope that when this statement
is published in Genetics, we can report the response of at least 2,000
géenecicists who are members of the Genetics Society.

Hoping to hear from every one of you,
Sincerely,

CO heat 5 (Crane le

Presidént, GSA

Founded 1929 in Memory of Roscoe B. Jackson