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INTRODUCTION
9
techniquesforconstructionofdangerousmicroorganismsformilitaryuseż
In1975,PaulBerg,oneofthecreatorsofgeneticengineering,organizeda
conferencedevotedtoallpossibleapplicationsofthenewtechniquesat
theAsilomarConferenceCenter(California,USA)żAround150geneticists
fromallovertheworlddiscussedthedangersofgeneticengineeringż
IattendedthisconferenceattheinvitationofDavidBaltimore,thescientist
fromtheCancerCenteroftheMassachusettsInstituteofTechnology,who
togetherwithRenatoDulbeccoandHowardMartinTeminwasawardedthe
NobelPrizeufortheirdiscoveriesconcerningtheinteractionbetween
tumourvirusesandthegeneticmaterialofthecellż”ThesecondPolish
participantoftheAsilomarConferencewasprofessorWacławGajewski,
headoftheDepartmentofGeneticsattheUniversityofWarsawż
ThefnalconclusionreachedattheAsilomarConferencewastogo
aheadwithgeneticengineering,takingcaretorunexperimentsunderlab-
oratoryconditionsadequatetothepotentiallymostdangerouselementof
thisexperimentżForexample,constructionofanEschericiacolistrainpro-
ducinginsulincanbeperformedinpracticallyeverybiologicallab,asnei-
therthisbacterialspeciesnorinsulinaredangeroustohumansżOnthe
otherhand,experimentsongeneticallyengineeredstrainsusedforthe
developmentofcuresforinfectiousdiseasesshouldbeperformedonlyin
speciallyequippedlaboratories,givingconfdencethatbacteriawillnotget
outżJamesWatson,theNobellaureateforhisworkonDNAstructurewas
astrongadvocateofthegeneticengineeringexpansionżAtthetimeofthe
AsilomarConference,hewasanadviseroftheUSgovernmentonbacterial
weaponsżHeclaimedthatheknewthatthenaturallyoccurringnon-
engineeredbacteriastrainsstoredintheUSmilitarywarehousescouldalready
killeveryinhabitantofourplanetineightdiferentwaysandcomparedto
thattheproductsofgeneticmanipulationsarethelaughingstocksż
Anenormousnumberofnewinformationongenomestructurewas
obtainedduetotheprogressintheDNAsequencingtechniquesż30years
ago,sequencingofthefullhumangenomeseemedtobeamissionimpos-
sible,mainlybecauseofthecostofthisproject,higherthantheyearlybud-
getoftheMaxPlanckInstituteżHowever,inspiteofmanyobjections,
theHumanGenomeProjectwaslaunchedin1990żTheprojectwasrunby
theInternationalHumanGenomeSequencingConsortium(IHGSC)com-
posedofscientistsfrom18countriesżOneofthefoundingprinciplesofthe
