Letters
LETTERS Goats and SALT Alice Q. Howard's letter in the October issue praises the Navy's efforts to eradicate the wild goats on San Clemente Island. It seems these goats cause considerable damage...
...We never gave the matter much thought until, a few months ago, two enthusiastic puzzle-makers in West Medford, Massachusetts, offered to provide us with a monthly puzzle tailor-made for The Progressive...
...Was this a Westerner's rational-skeptical view of faith healing...
...The Solicitor General of the United States and officials of the Patent and Trademark Office will argue against such an interpretation when the case is heard by the Court next spring...
...My scientific duty demanded exploration of that possibility...
...LETTERS 'Patenting life' Ted Howard's article in the September issue, and his book...
...Because of these factors, a recent international study recommended the immediate establishment of regional banks of plant varieties to preserve genetic diversity for the future...
...When you solve it, you'll know that the theme is wholly appropriate to the concerns of this magazine...
...5134, a resolution to repeal the President's power to begin draft registration and to totally abolish the still functioning remnants of the draft...
...Big Science has to be funded with Big Money...
...Some members of society work actively to find ways to help suffering humanity, but some others seem determined to discredit this noble effort by accusing the geneticists of ulterior motives...
...We haven't been overwhelmed with requests, though a few readers have suggested it from time to time...
...Blacks and Jews John Judis's article on the conflict between blacks and Jews ("A Proxy War' Nobody Needs," November) was not enhanced by perpetuating some of the myths of black anti-Semitism: The Harlem riots in the mid-1960s were not targeted at Jewish merchants—at least not in that part of Harlem where I lived and worked...
...Milton Mayer On the Freeway, California Abolish the draft I read with interest the article entitled "The Best-Laid Plans" by Thomas Conrad in the December issue of The Progressive...
...To claim that a powerful technique like recombinant DNA is merely "free inquiry" is ludicrous...
...Ted Howard's article and book try to give the erroneous impression that the laboratory strains modified to produce beneficial products are "dangerous," potentially "disease-causing," and will be misused by greedy corporations, represented by creepy monsters in an accompanying cartoon...
...Ford Motor determining that it is cost-effective to build Pintos that will explode on impact rather than correct the design deficiencies...
...It's difficult to rationalize black violence with slogans from the 1960s when virtually everyone you know has had a member of his immediate or extended family brutalized...
...Finally, the issue that a non-Jew like myself finds particularly disturbing is the instant use of the label "anti-Semite" to brand those who disagree with Jewish positions on the issues...
...Another issue raised indirectly by Ted Howard's article is the censorship of scientific inquiry protected by the First Amendment...
...New York's Mayor Koch did not appoint a Jew, Andrew Stein, to the place on the city's powerful Board of Estimate traditionally reserved for blacks...
...indeed, be a very small chance that a deadly microorganism might escape laboratory containment and enter the ecosystem...
...The suggestion that "blacks reacted with particular bitterness" to Andrew Stein's remarks concerning black officials' meetings with the PLO because "Mayor Koch had appointed him to a place on the Board of Estimate traditionally reserved for blacks" illustrates further the labored paranoia of many Jews toward black opinions that do not support "Jewish" positions...
...I am not the only one who believes the Act was never intended by Congress to cover other life forms...
...Another development directly traceable to corporate patenting of plants is a growing control over the world's food supply by a handful of companies...
...Is it the right of inquiry that concerns the professor, or the "right" to make a buck unencumbered by the public's legitimate concerns over the environmental, ethical, and social implications of this area of technological development...
...Edward Teller, father of the H-bomb, has been quoted as saying, "I believed in the possibility of developing a thermonuclear bomb...
...Young's reporting of "the facts" came subsequent to his confrontation by both the Israelis and the State Department...
...Once out of the laboratory, there is no recalling a genetically engineered life form...
...In these circumstances, the potential for a laboratory-related biohazard cannot be viewed on the basis of statistical probability or cost/benefit analysis...
...It was further suggested that nations rescind all plant patent laws...
...If the Federal Government is funding research, the Government has a clear right to ensure that research is not conducted in such a way that it endangers the local community...
...In violation of the First Amendment, basic genetic research is presently censored under so-called NIH Guidelines for Recombinant DNA Research...
...I wonder, therefore, whether wild goats have been included in SALT II, and just where we stand relative to the rest of the world in goat deployment...
...However, the track record of America's giant corporations—the petrochemical industry unleashing thousands of cancer and disease-causing synthetic organic chemical compounds upon society without any proper testing...
...The fact is that Stein is the elected Borough President of Manhattan, and as such is, by law, a member of the Board of Estimate...
...Research sponsored by the National Institutes of Health has demonstrated that gene-splice products cause tumors in experimental mice, that naked polyoma (multiple tumor) DNA causes infection in experimental mice, and that "safe" gene-splice bacteria survived for some four days in the human gut and in sewage...
...But should that chance be taken...
...Two examples appear in the November 1979 issue—Jeff Stein's comment on " 'Friendly' Spies," and John Judis's article on the "Proxy War...
...Indeed, many vital plant varieties, as well as numerous characteristics formerly possessed by plants, have simply been bred out of existence, never to play a part in evolution again...
...In the "Proxy War" article, New York's Mayor is referred to as "Jewish Mayor Edward Koch," and the article states that Koch appointed Andrew Stein "to a place on the Board of Estimate traditionally reserved for blacks...
...Professor Szybalski denies any suggestion that genetic engineering might be applied in socially destructive ways by private industry...
...Howard's article misdirects legitimate environmental concerns by emphasizing insignificant risks...
...No dangers were ever created by this technique, and all "predictions" of risks are within the science-fiction category...
...He occupies a place formerly—not traditionally—held by a black...
...The Progressive should be especially sympathetic on this score...
...There is a deep ethical question at stake: Does our generation have the right to pursue a technology that poses the real possibility of so disrupting the delicate balance of the ecosystem that all succeeding generations may be affected...
...The point is, as Judis makes clear in his article, that there is a good deal of self-interest in Jewish support for black aspirations...
...What was the purpose of pointing to the Filipino healer's conventional operation...
...Not because these plants are useless, but simply because they are not as profitable...
...The issue now before the Supreme Court is whether the Plant Patent Act was designed to apply to microorganisms and other forms of life...
...While I do not know the religious affiliation of the staff involved, it is unlikely that they were "all Jewish," as Judis states, since some of them were black...
...Dave Wallers Logan, Ohio Mayer's riposte I am he (or him) of whom Harold R. Hutch-eson of Sandwich, Massachusetts, complains (Letters, December) on the ground that a professor of English should know better than to quote Gloucester as having said to Lear—rather than to Edmund—"We have seen the best of our time...
...Why did Howard conceal this information...
...There is something else besides writing Selective Service headquarters in Washington, D.C., that everyone interested in abolishing the Selective Service System can do: write your elected Federal legislative representatives and urge them to support H.R...
...on the instant occasion...
...Walter DorrelllU Darien, Connecticut How progressive...
...That fact was made public long before your article was printed...
...3,780 for a Dutch-elm-disease-resistant elm tree...
...Actually, much more complex organisms, such as fruit trees or disease-resistant plants, were patented for about half a century under the Townsend-Purnell Plant Patent Act passed by Congress on May 13, 1930, and amended on August 25,1954...
...We looked at some samples and were impressed...
...Also highly misleading is his statement that applying patents to specially developed industrial or laboratory organisms is a new development...
...This small blip, I think, somehow escaped the editors' usually thorough scrutiny...
...Judis's article never mentions the issue most often cited by Jews as the source of their changing attitudes toward blacks— crime...
...Of course, there is a risk associated with everything in life, but a mistake or accident involving recombinant DNA would be irreversible...
...John G. Fuller, author of the widely acclaimed We Almost Lost Detroit, has written books on paranormal occurrences, including Surgeon of a Rusty Knife, which deals at length with "psychic surgery...
...He may not know that the Plant Patent Act of 1930 is now proving to be an unmitigated disaster...
...I've seen little or nothing in the magazine about youth liberation, atheism (or, more specifically, freedom from religion) except regarding the abortion issue, or sexual freedom...
...Eugene E. Lefkowitz New York, New York John Judis replies: The correspondents are correct about Andrew Stein, and I apologize...
...When WASPs are able to engage in their favorite sport of savaging blacks, Jew-baiting is never far behind...
...Be so gracious as to permit me to observe that (1) the statute of limitations with reference to my having been a professor of English has long since run, and (2) Shakespeare, after what he did to Richard III, is not to be taken as an authority on what Gloucester said, or to whom he said it...
...Stein's comment makes no mention of the fact that Ambassador Andrew Young himself revealed that the facts of his conversation with the PLO representative were told by him to the Israeli delegate, who advised him that it would have to be reported to the Israeli government...
...As large corporations have sought new profits by genetically "refining" and then patenting such vital crop plants as corn, soybeans, and wheat, the genetic diversity of the world's basic food sources has been drastically narrowed...
...The very process necessitates engaging in manufacturing, and those objects that are manufactured (in this case, novel microorganisms) can have a horrendous impact on society...
...To emphasize his distrust toward medical research, Howard puts quotation marks around the word "benefits," and with a stroke of his pen denies hope to thousands of diabetics who require presently unavailable human insulin, which could be produced by the recombinant DNA technique...
...The issue of free inquiry is misapplied by Szybalski on another score, as well...
...The least an honest editor would have done would have been to state that in a footnote...
...Of course, Andrew Stein is the elected Borough President of Manhattan, and, as such, holds two votes on the Board of Estimate...
...We know because we solved it without peeking at the solution (which we'll publish next month, along with a new puzzle...
...For instance, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation holds plant patent No...
...If I read these facts correctly, the goats tause more damage than the Navy's weapons...
...pharmaceutical firms and their sorry record of drug testing and marketing—should make us all wonder whether the technology of genetic engineering should be exploited by big business...
...Szybalski...
...On another point, Szybalski is quite right—fruit trees and plants have been patentable for several decades...
...Of course, I cannot prove that misuse will result...
...How progressive is The Progressive...
...Professor Szybalski concludes by trumpeting the virtues of scientific inquiry, arguing that the scientist's right to look wherever he may, however he may, is equivalent to the individual's constitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech...
...Talk about black-Jewish co-operation is undoubtedly obligatory, but life on the streets is making it meaningless...
...The new techniques offer immense benefits for humanity, some already realized in the basic research field, and no practical dangers...
...Is there any constitutional guarantee that upholds the technological fix so pervasive in science today—if it can be done .then it should be done...
...Neither did they "fire" thirteen teachers...
...Jeff Stein replies: Eugene Lefkowitz's comments are irrelevant to the central issue—the surreptitious interception of Andrew Young's conversation with Zehdi Terzi...
...Stein won that seat by virtue of his election as Manhattan Borough President...
...no one knows what the effect would be...
...It seems these goats cause considerable damage to the island's plant life—so much damage that the Navy is to be praised for killing the goats, even though it plans to use the island for target practice...
...And if you like The Progressive Puzzle, or hate it, or couldn't care less—let us know...
...Congratulations on your First Amendment victory...
...Waclaw Szybalski McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research University of Wisconsin Madison, Wisconsin Ted Howard replies: Professor Szybalski's claims notwithstanding, the facts do not support his rosy assessment of genetic engineering and its social usefulness...
...Thomas C. Taskonis Racine, Wisconsin (More letters on Page 54) Memo A puzzle in The Progressive...
...I hope The Progressive will direct its future attention to this violation of the hallowed First Amendment...
...201 School Board, a sister community board to Ocean Hill-Brownsville and intimately involved in their controversies with the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), I can assure Judis that Ocean Hill-Brownsville did not have a "black school board" but one made up of black and Puerto Rican members, reflecting the ethnic composition of the community, and included at least one white—a local priest...
...John Elmer Minneapolis, Minnesota Faith healing I was somewhat confused over a small item in your "No Comment" column of the December issue...
...Robert Sinsheimer, former chairman of the biology department at Cal Tech, and an outspoken opponent of various types of genetic engineering research, has denied the validity of such a comparison, telling his fellow scientists that it is "no longer enough to wave the flag of Galileo...
...If you are unfamiliar with the British-style "cryptic" puzzle, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to The Progressive Puzzle, 408 W. Gorham St., Madison, WI53703, and we'll send an instruction sheet...
...Who Should Play God?, employ misstatements, innuendos, and half-truths to raise doubt about the safety and ethics of research in the field of molecular genetics, especially when employing the recombinant DNA technique...
...This may be good enough for Dr...
...If Dr...
...Szybalski finds the established safety regulations abhorrent, he is certainly free to refrain from applying for and using public funds...
...The truth is that modern methods of molecular genetics allow implanting of various genes into laboratory microorganisms, which would lead to inexpensive production of many human life-saving proteins, like hormones and vaccines and many other beneficial products...
...I respect your articles a great deal, agreeing with the philosophical foundation from which they spring...
...So, on Page 45 of this issue, you'll find The Progressive Puzzle—difficult enough to be challenging, but it can be solved...
...There may...
...No research can be undertaken until first reviewed and approved by censorship boards, named IBC and RAC, and important, safe, and beneficial research is prohibited for no compelling reasons...
...it is not for me...
...And the paternalism in the relationship between the Jewish and black communities is highlighted by the proclamations that Jewish groups will withdraw their support from black efforts to achieve equal justice and opportunities if black leaders do not adopt policy positions consistant with those of the Jewish community...
...Robert Nichol New York, New York John Judis should try to get his facts straight...
...As a member of the I.S...
...The district superintendent of schools reassigned the staff in question to his district office while filing charges of insubordination against them...
...The potential for a devastating biohazard resulting from a biological accident is not "science fiction...
...Their due process rights were being implemented in accord with the union contract when Albert Shanker exploited the situation with a strike to consolidate his monolithic control of the UFT, using "black anti-Semitism" as an effective charge to bring normally liberal organizations to his side...
...United Brands, for example, has used the patent laws to gain ownership of two-thirds of the world's banana seeds...
...The fear of blacks, particularly black teen-agers, is pervasive and justified...
...After all, if assistance is given altruistically, the giver can hardly hold the recipient in debt, or threaten to withhold further assistance pending the successful passing of a loyalty test...
...They were targeted at non-black owners...
...Philip Stern New York, New York Unquestionably your position on the "prior restraint" involved in the Morland article was right, but your own censorship of the truths with reference to Israel to assist in the attack on that country show not only an anti-Israel position but, by misstatements and omissions of known facts, either an anti-Semitic position or one supportive of generating anti-Semitism among uninformed readers who accept your articles...
...If you offer the opportunity to the authors of the two articles to reply to my points, I trust they will not evade the specific omissions and misstatements...
...It would be refreshing to have you and them clear the air with an admission of error instead of tailoring their positions to the New Left...
Vol. 44 • January 1980 • No. 1
