Council Responsible for Genetics Essay Example for Free

Council Responsible for Genetics Essay The Council for Responsible Genetics (CRG) is a non-profit NGO with a focus on biotechnology , the Council for Responsible Genetics was founded in 1983 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. An early voice concerned about the social and ethical implications of modern genetic technologies, CRG organized a 1985 Congressional Briefing and a 1986 panel of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, both focusing on the potential dangers of genetically engineered biological weapons. Francis Boyle was asked to draft legislation setting limits on the use of genetic engineering, leading to the Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989. CRG was the first organization to compile documented cases of genetic discrimination, laying the intellectual groundwork for the Genetic Information Non-discrimination Act of 2008 (GINA). The organization created both a Genetic Bill of Rights and a Citizens Guide to Genetically Modified Food. Also notable are CRGs support for the Safe Seeds Campaign (for avoiding gene flow from genetically engineered to non-GE seed) and the organization of a US conference on Forensic DNA Databanks and Racial Disparities in the Criminal Justice System. In 2010 CRG led a successful campaign to roll back a controversial student genetic testing program at the University of California, Berkeley. In 2011, CRG led a campaign to successfully enact (GINA) in California which extended genetic privacy and non-discrimination protections to life, disability and long term care insurance, mortgages, lending and other areas. The Peoples Petition The Peoples Petition was an online campaign to express support for medical experimentation using animals in the United Kingdom. Within a year of launch the number of signatures exceeded 21,850 and included Tony Blair, the then-serving Prime Minister. By 13 May, the petition had recorded 13,000 signatures. The following day, in the wake of publicity around a number of acts of intimidation by animal rights activists, then British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced in the Sunday Telegraph, that he intended to add his name to the petition. As an unusual move for a serving politician, Blair described his intention as a sign of just how important I believe it is that as many people as possible stand up against the tiny group of extremists threatening medical research and advances in the UK. The petition offered the opportunity for individuals of any age or place of residence to express support for three assertions: * Medical research is essential for developing safe and effective medical and veterinary treatments, requiring some studies using animals. * Where there is no alternative available, medical research using animals should continue in the UK. * People involved in medical research using animals have a right to work and live without fear of intimidation or attack.