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Show What is DNA? ACID, or the chemical materia of which genes are composed. Found in the chromosomes of oil living cells, it unctions as the hearer, in chemical orm. of hereditary information. It thus determines the role each cell plays as it grows into plant, animal or human being. IT CAN REPLICATE itself exactly. which permits the transfer of inherited traits in the reproduction process. DEOXYRIBONUCLEIC DNA. is Lab splicing of cells holds great promise, but some critics fear accidents might spawn horrors even now, five years later DNA by Robert P. Bomboy & Joann Rodgers hortly after scientists succeeded in splicing genes from different life forms in 1973, the specter arose of fiendish monsters emerging from the laboratory and new Andromeda Strain-typ- e bacteria world. Public attendecimating the tion was focused on the hazards of this revolutionary biological research technique by which a piece of DNA is taken from one life form and joined to another, creating in a test tube a new combination of genes (thus the term "recombinant DNA") and a new organism with completely different characteristics from the originals With the new technique, scientists for the first time can obtain large quantities of a single gene and its pioducts and in the future create in plants, animals and humans permanent traits and capabilities that do not occur naturally put this new Scientists have already technology to work. By inserting into harmless bacteria the genetically coded message for making human insulin, they have achieved the necessary first step tow-ar- commercial large-scal- e production of cheap, pure insulin For the world's diabetics, this source unlimitcould mean an allergen-free- , ed supply Critics worry, however, that "unnatural" DNA products could give viruses and bacteria the ability to spread ecological damage and disease unchecked. If these genetic "hybrids" escaped from maximum-securitlaboratories, they say, the once-harmle- y organisms might reproduce endlessly and destroy a defenseless world. Their tears of hidden dangers in DNA experiments have been given new urgency by the accident at the Three-Mil- e Island nuclear power plant near Harrisburg, Pa. The kind of human errors that played such pivotal roles in that mishap can't be discounted in the DNA work. Still, while concern persists after five years of experimentation, genetic doomsday is not upon us Two government scientists, Drs. Malcolm Martin and Wallace Rowe, conducting recombinant DNA "risk assessment" experiments in the bionation's first maximum-security logical containment laboratory at the rederick (Md ) Cancer Research Center Results of their initial work appear to show that bacteria containing recombined bits of genetic material can't infect anyone or anything. Outside of government, the feeling F "All of the scientific comin recombinant DNA involved munity work now is convinced this technology is safe," says Dr Herbert Weiss-baccomhead of the Hoffmann-LaRoch- e for mittee Inc., a is the same. h, drug company doing DNA research. But is this issue really settled? Is there adequate control of this new biological tool, or are scientists covering up real threats? Further experiments, to determine whether bacteria containing recombined genes will cause cancer in rats, are months from completion. Nonetheless, Drs. Martin and Rowe predict that the lack of DNA "infectivity" underscored in their work will be confirmed. They caution, however, that no single test can declare DNA research safe or dangerous with absolute certainty. Besides Hoffmann-LaRochthree now are permajor drug companies recombinant DNA experiments in their own laboratories. Two more support it under contract in universities, and still others are conducting experiments. Industry spokesmen say the profit potential in DNA work is so enormous that the number of companies is likely to increasedramatically. And that is seen as a source of trouble. "The history of the drug companies observing Food and Drug Administration rules on testing and effectiveness when there's the pressure of the profit to be made has not always resulted in reputable behavior," says Burke K. Zimmerman, a biophysicist forming 'v o, EXTREMELY SMALL, DNA mole- cules appear as long strands. In the photo they are magnified 10.000 times. and former science adviser to a House of Representatives subcommittee on health and the environment "The big problem is if the drug commanufacpanies get into large-scal- e is "There he warns. nothing in turing," federal guidelines pertaining to this." Scientists are loath to make wild predictions about what could happen in the event of a recombinant DNA accident. "One scenario," says Harvard Medical School's Dr. Jonathan R Beckwith, "involves the effort to make bacteria produce insulin. If humans are infected with recombinant DNA material, these bacteria couid cause their bodies to produce too much insulin, sending them into shock. Some bacterial strains could induce humans to make antibodies against their own insulin, making them diabetic." Another significant worry what foreign governments will do with recombinant DNA. Canada, China France, Great Britain, West Germany, Japan, the Soviet Union and Switzerland are all conducting experiments The World Health Organization supports safety guidelines set by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), but no government is forced to comply. is I 'M I'XRAOE MAY VI 1S7' 15 Endless reproduction of the same characteristics can PNA experiments lead to this? continued |
