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Local Control of Recombinant DNA Research — Only for Accidents?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2021

Ken Christensen
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Extract

Proposed federal legislation concerning recombinant DNA research attempts to restrict the ability of local governments to regulate the research. In March of 1978, the House Commerce Committee approved a bill that would “bar states and localities from setting their own standards over gene transplant technology.” Two weeks later, the House of Representatives Science, Research, and Technology Subcommittee approved a bill which would permit a state to regulate such researchonly when it is “necessary” to protect local health. The “necessary” standard usually requires strict proof that a regulated substance or activity will cause significant harm to public health. Under this standard a locality might have to wait for significant harm to occur before it could adopt regulations that are stricter than federal requirements.

This anomaly presents the basic question of this article: Who should decide whether recombinant DNA research is a health hazard — the local or the federal government? This article will utilize a legal approach to answer the question, analyzing and weighing the issues presented by pertinent cases.

Type
Article
Information
Medicolegal News , Volume 6 , Issue 2 , Summer 1978 , pp. 4 - 15
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Law, Medicine and Ethics 1978

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References

Boston Globe, March 15, 1978, at 1, col. 4Google Scholar
Boston Globe, April 3, 1978, at 20, col. 1; H.R. 11192, 95th Cong., 2d Sess., sec. 106(6), 1978.Google Scholar
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Virtually any research facility capable of performing recombinant DNA investigations must utilize interstate commerce to bring in personnel, money, and materials, and ship out information and research results. State control over such activity is predicated upon their potential threat to local health or welfare. While some have contended that such state regulation constitutes an infringement upon First Amendment privileges, DNA research regulations are health-related in both purpose and effect. They are strictly related to conduct which potentially threatens public safety, and do not impermissibly limit a researcher's scientific inquiry. See Robertson, , The Scientist's Right to Research: A Constitutional Analysis, U. So. Cal. L. Rev., Fall 1978.Google Scholar
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