Genes Implant Testing Approved

A powerful National Institutes of Health committee Monday approved the first experiment outside the government involving the transfer of foreign genes into humans.

The Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee unanimously endorsed a plan by researchers from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., to insert foreign genes into cancer-stricken immune cells of children with leukemia, said Dr. Nelson Wivel, director of the Office of Recombinant DNA Activities.

The genes would have no treatment value but are intended to help doctors track the effectiveness of a treatment that involves removing a child’s bone marrow, giving chemotherapy to wipe out cancerous cells and then returning the marrow to the patient.

The St. Jude’s team, headed by Dr. Malcom Brenner, still must receive approval from the head of NIH and the Food and Drug Administration before they can start the tests in two or three youngsters suffering from acute myelocytic leukemia.

Such gene transfer work could clear the way for experiments involving genes with possible treatment value.