News of the Week pene compounds also may give opportunities to develop new products based on SCM's newly acquired expertise in fluorine and silicon chemistry. In 1981, the company merged with P e n i n s u l a r ChemResearch, Gainesville, Fla., which has a heavy involvement with specialty chemicals based on those elements. In addition, supply of the company's needs for geraniol and nerol from the Brunswick plant means that a load will be taken off SCM's Jacksonville plant, whose equipment can be diverted to produce other chemicals. •
ICI weighs marketing of new thermoplastic Deciding whether to invest in developing a new thermoplastic isn't easy at the best of times. It is more difficult right now in light of current weak markets. So it is that managers at Imperial Chemical Industries in the U.K. are taking a cautious approach in their evaluation of the chances of success of poly-2-hydroxybutyric acid, otherwise known as polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB). But they may elect soon to expand production from the current level of a mere several tons annually. PHB isn't likely to become a highvolume thermoplastic on a par, say, with the polyethylenes or polypropylene, at least anytime soon. However, it could carve a niche for itself in more profitable specialty markets. That the polymer is biodegradable and has unusual electrical properties bolsters its chances of becoming viable commercially. Its biodegradability could make P H B a strong candidate as a surgical material, further bolstered by its nontoxicity and benignancy to tissue. Fibers made from it are being evaluated for suturing. And it could be molded into pins, splints, and the like for temporary, postoperative support structures. The polymer eventually would break down over a period of weeks while normal healing occurs. Advantages stemming from PHB's piezoelectric property are less certain. The polymer changes shape when exposed to an electric field, and it generates a slight voltage when subjected to pressure. This characteristic of P H B may open the way for some applications in the electronics area. Apart from its physical properties, 6
C&EN Nov. 22, 1982
what makes P H B interesting is that it is a metabolism product of the bacterium Alcaligenes eutrophus. This bacterium grows on a variety of starches and sugars. Fundamental studies on the polymer are being carried out at ICI's agricultural division in Billingham,
England. The development is an outgrowth of the division's extensive research into continuous fermentation. This research work has resulted in a commercial, single-cell, proteinrich animal feed supplement tradenamed Pruteen (C&EN, Jan. 5,1981, page 8). •
Oversight of ethics of bioengineering sought A Presidential commission that studied issues surrounding gene splicing praises the far-reaching technology as "a celebration of human creativity and freedom," whose potential for good or ill, however, cannot now be well-defined. That being the case, the commission calls for establishment of a permanent, broad-based oversight panel to maintain constant vigilance over future research manipulating human genetic material to ensure that the science doesn't overtake its social and ethical consequences. After two years of study, the P r e s i d e n t ' s Commission for t h e Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine & Biomedical & Behavioral Research finds that scientific scrutiny of the safety issues of genetic engineering has minimized the risks while producing results of "great potential value for human well-being." It finds no grounds for curtailing the "revolutionary scientific technique," even if it could be halted, which it doubts. But, the panel stresses that it is time to go beyond concern for safety issues alone. In testimony before the House Sci-
Gore: set up national commission
ence & Technology oversight subcommittee, commission executive director Alexander M. Capron said an oversight panel independent of the National Institutes of Health and composed of ethicists, lawyers, religious, educational, and industrial leaders as well as scientists should be formed. The main focus of this panel would not be safety but ethical/social implications of the research. It should be the place where "people in main-line science" can turn for advice before they "pursue the next logical step" in their research, Capron says. T h e P r e s i d e n t i a l commission, Capron explains, was not concerned about the "mad scientist," so often associated with this technology in the public's mind. Nor was the commission worried about the development of a human-animal hybrid, which it says should be prohibited. What concerned the panel were the ethical implications of changes to the germ-line—changes that would affect generations to come—and changes that could enhance behavior or physical and intellectual traits. "We ought now to begin to deal with these ethical questions before the science is upon us," Capron points out. "That science is moving very quickly," he adds. Indeed, testifying before Rep. Albert Gore Jr.'s (D.-Tenn.) subcommittee, National Institutes of Health molecular biologist W. French Anderson said that within five to 10 years "gene therapy experimentation in h u m a n s could be conducted with some reasonable expectation of success." Like most of the other panelists addressing the subcommittee, Anderson found gene therapy ethical, enhancement genetic engineering problematical. It is just those sticky, problematical issues that a permanent oversight panel would address. Rep. Gore will introduce legislation early in the next Congress that will establish a national commission to continue the efforts of the present Presidential commission, whose mandate expires Dec. 31. •
