Agricultural genetics goes to court

A coalition of environmental groups headed by activist Jeremy Rifkin has filed lawsuits to halt experiments that would release genetically engineered organisms into the environment. One suit, filed against the National Institutes of Health on 14 September 1983, would block tests by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley. A second suit, filed 16 September 1983 against Cetus Madison and BioTechnica, seeks to halt field tests that had been approved by NIH's Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee. At issue are NIH's role in evaluating the risks of genetic experimentation, and the public's right of access to proprietary information.     

Photochemical smog systems: effect of dilution on ozone formation

Dilution of a photochemical system containing hydrocarbons and oxides of nitrogen can lead to higher ozone concentrations than are observed in a static system. This effect was observed in an outdoor smog chamber with a hydrocarbon mix simulating urban systems.     

Scientist quits NIH over fetal rules

Citing unacceptable federal restrictions on human reproductive research, fertility researcher Dr. Gary Hodgen is leaving the National Institutes of Health for the Eastern Virginia Medical School, where much of the work on in vitro fertilization in the United States is being done. Virtually no IVF research is conducted at NIH, since all government-supported efforts in this controversial area must first be reviewed in proposal form by a non-existent federal ethics committee. NIH's caution in fostering research on IVF and with human embryos is frustrating scientists and driving them into the private sector, where their work is unregulated.