Threats and promises: negotiating the control of research.

In august, 1976, a citizen's review board was appointed in Cambridge, Massa chusetts, to consider whether recombinant DNA research would have an ad verse effect on public health. The board, composed of nonscientists, described itself as a "citizen's court." Its task was to review the safety procedures set out by guidelines from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the methods for monitoring their compliance. Evaluating conflicting arguments offered by scien tists for and against the facility, the board presented its findings to the City Council of Cambridge as a basis for local policies governing the conditions of research.2