An Ethical Stand Against Genetic Engineering
Powerful international economic and political forces are driving the widespread implementation of genetic technologies throughout the environment and into our lives. On November 17, 1994 one scientist took a courageous ethical stand against the hazards of these new technologies. In a news conference in Washington D.C., molecular biologist Dr. John Fagan called for a 50-year moratorium on the most dangerous applications of genetic engineering and called on researchers to explore safer, more productive avenues of research. In a move unprecedented in the annals of the National Institutes of Health,, Fagan underscored his concerns by announcing that he would return to the NIH $613,882 in federal grant money and withdraw $1.2 million in grant proposals for research that could have been used for potentially dangerous genetic engineering applications.
News of Dr. Fagan's action flashed around the world through widespread national and international television and radio news coverage and hundreds of major newspaper and magazine articles. Dr. Fagan has now launched a world lecture tour, campaigning for safe alternatives to genetic technologies. He has kicked off this campaign by publishing a new book, Genetic Engineering: The Hazards, Vedic Engineering: The Solutions.
Excerpts from the media's response to Dr. Fagan's ethical stand:
"GENETIC ENGINEERING BREEDS COSTLY PROTEST--In a move that has become the talk of the scientific community, the 46-year-old molecular biologist is returning nearly $614,000 in grant money from the National Institutes of Health.... He is doing so to protest what he sees as rampant and unwise genetic tinkering with plants and animals and the release of these novel organisms into the environment."--The Washington Post
"A SCIENTIST'S QUALMS--Molecular biologist John Fagan
touched a nerve last week when he held a news conference to announce
he was giving back $600,000 in federal research grants. His
reasons...tap into a lot of lay people's as yet unfocused worries
about the possibilities that biogenetic experimentation could
unleash."
--International Herald Tribune (Editorial)
"CANCER RESEARCHER RETURNS GRANT--Ever since
researchers spliced together genes from different organisms more than
20 years ago, researchers and ethicists have worried about where
genetic engineering may lead. But few have gone as far as molecular
biologist John Fagan. Last week, Fagan announced he is returning more
than $600,000 in grant money from the National Cancer Institute (NCI)
because he no longer wants to be part of genetic research.... Fagan
is giving up his research to focus on what he considers to be a more
fruitful activity: research on 'traditional' medicine, specifically
Indian Ayurvedic medicine, which he thinks holds more promise for
disease prevention than does gene-splicing."
--Science
"BIOLOGIST RETURNS US GRANTS TO PROTEST GENETIC
RESEARCH--'There's been a great overpromotion of gene therapy
techniques,' [said Fagan] 'and this technology is going to put us in
the same place that nuclear power did--we got burned not realizing the
potential for side effects.'... Fagan, 46, will focus on treating
cancer and other diseases through a traditional Indian healing system
known as Ayurveda."
--The Boston Globe