A Scientific Breakthrough

N THE GREEK LEGEND, Prometheus stole the
fire from the gods and was punished for his dar-

ing. Zeus chained him to the top of a mountain and.

sent vultures to feed on his liver. Having already sto-
len fire and the secrets of the atom, science is now on
the verge of unlocking the secret of creating new
forms of life. In 1973, biochemists found that it would
be possible to join the genetic material called DNA
(deoxyribonucleic acid) from different species and
transplant the resulting product in living cells. With
such recombination and transplantation it may be
possible to change the genes of plants, animals or
even human beings and thus to manipulate them at

will. Genetic manipulation has untold potential for |
good as well as harm. It may be used to combat cer- .

tain diseases and increase the food supply. But it may
also create and infect the world with new diseases
and cause catastrophes—a kind of latter-day wrath of
Zeus.

The first group of scientists who worked on all this
recognized the perils and asked the National Acad-
emy of Science to call for voluntary restraints on re-
search and experimentation until their potential
could be evaluated. In 1974, Dr. Paul Berg and his col-
leagues, backed by the Academy, called for a morato-
rium until the National Institutes of Health, which
fund most DNA research in this country, could issue
guidelines on how to safeguard against potential haz-
ards. With the lure of potentially fabulous benefits,
considerable interest on the part of U.S. Army biolog-
ical warfare laboratories, industrial and international
ambition and competition, the moratorium was not
an easy thing to ask for. It was clear that voluntary

restraint of the Promethean impulse would be in its
way a scientific breakthrough of its own.
Nevertheless, the breakthrough has now occurred.
Dr. Donald S. Frederickson, on behalf of the National
Institutes of Health, issued “Guidelines Governing
Research Involving Recombinant DNA Molecules”
the other day. They ban experiments with highty poi-
sonous substances and carefully prescribe essential
safeguards for laboratory work with others. The safe-
guards require very expensive laboratory facilities,
but that, in turn, guards against uncontrolled prolif-
eration of DNA experiments. Much as astronomers
must often travel to a distant, expensive observatory

’ for more complex work, biologists will be able to un-

dertake certain experiments only in a limited num-
ber of expensive laboratories.

Not everyone is happy with the guidelines. Some
scientists feel that it is idiocy to attempt the curbing
of scientific pursuits. Others believe all research that
might lead to genetic manipulation should be prohih-
ited. The guidelines steer a narrow but, apparently,
safe course between these extremes. In the end, they
only extend the age-old medical admonition of pri-
mum non nocere—first of all, do no harm—to anew
frontier of potential discovery. The prognosis is good:
The two-year moratorium, which preceded the guide-
lines, seems to have been observed all around. For-
eign scientists, including the Soviets, appear to be re-
ceptive to the idea of proceeding with caution. The
U.S. guidelines are likely to be accepted as a model
by the World Health Organization and other interna-
tional scientific organizations. The U-S. scientists who

urged this breakthrough— and warked hard to

achieve it—deserve gratitude and congratulations,