The Nation - News from Sept. 25, 1985

Tests of genetic therapy that may offer the first treatment for certain hereditary diseases could begin within months, now that a federal advisory group has approved guidelines for the experimental work, specialists say. A National Institutes of Health advisory committee has completed work on guidelines for human tests of gene therapy, a new approach to getting at the causes of hereditary diseases and modifying them. The Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee unanimously adopted a set of points that should be considered by researchers coming to the panel with proposals.