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KA ge war 19

MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY caMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS 02139
Department of Biology, Room 56-423 Tel. 617/253-4707

March 16, 1973

Dr. Joshua Lederberg

Stanford University School of Medicine
Department of Genetics

Stanford University Medical Center
Stanford, California 94305

Dear Josh,

Thank you for your very thoughtful letter. Let me first make clear
that I have not encouraged Sarkar in his project. I discovered that
he was well advanced in this project but without certainty of a job,
and I figured you could advise him more effectively than I.

As for the substance of his work, I had missed the point of the
unreliability and thought, probably in a medical rather than public
health way, that an immunological approach would be one that could be
tested and chosen individually, in competition, say, with vasectomy.

As for the matter of state-imposed programs, I would certainly share
your misgivings, but I hardly see how immunology can be as bad as a
sterilizing chemical added to drinking water. I agree that a 95%
valid system may be more useful to a state program, but how is it
going to be “imposéd"? Who would force people to get a series of
immunizing injections? Do you think of the possibility of sneaking
sperm vaccine into, say, diphtheria shots?

I agree with the trend of your reservations, but I see less danger in
immunology than in chemistry of fertility. I have given it less
thought than you have, however, and may be wrong.

My alarm at genetic engineering has always been at the possibility of
misuses of the technology for other purposes (atom bomb vs. atomic
energy; virus weapon vs. corn-borer virus; even genetic monsters vs.
repaired genes) and have been directed at the political sources of
abuse rather than at the scientific sources of technology. There is
no way of stopping anti-sperm immunology, and the most useful thing
is to do what you did in your letter, warn of the possible uses and
misuses.

It is always nice to hear from you. Regards to Margaret (7) also from
Zella.

Yours,

sel/na S. E. Luria