Council for Responsible Genetics#GeneWatch

The Council for Responsible Genetics was founded in 1983 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

{{Infobox organization

| name = Council for Responsible Genetics

| abbreviation = CRG

| formation = 1983

| founding_location = Cambridge, Massachusetts

| type = non profit

| purpose = biotechnology

}}

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.{{cite web | title = Council for Responsible Genetics | url = http://www.councilforresponsiblegenetics.org/ | website = Councilforresponsiblegenetics.org | accessdate = 2009-05-29 | archive-date = 2009-06-19 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090619101708/http://www.councilforresponsiblegenetics.org/ | url-status = dead }} 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.{{cite web | title = Broadening Our Perspective | url = http://www.ratical.org/ratville/CAH/AOPof911p06.html |website=Ratical.org| accessdate = 2009-05-30 }}

CRG was the first organization to advance a comprehensive, scientifically based position against human germline engineering.{{Cite journal| title=Position Paper on Human Germ Line Manipulation Presented by Council for Responsible Genetics, Human Genetics Committee Fall, 1992|journal=Human Gene Therapy|volume=4|pages=35–37|year=1993|issue=1|doi=10.1089/hum.1993.4.1-35|pmid=8461382}} It was also the first to compile documented cases of genetic discrimination, laying the intellectual groundwork for the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA).

The organization created both a Genetic Bill of Rights and a Citizen's Guide to Genetically Modified Food. Also notable are CRG's 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.{{cite web|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2010-08-12/uc-berkeley-backs-off-gene-test-program-for-students-blocked-by-state|title=UC Berkeley Backs Off Gene-Test Program for Students|date=25 June 2019|accessdate=25 June 2019|website=Bloomberg.com}} In 2011, CRG led a campaign to successfully enact [CalGINA] in California, which extended genetic privacy and nondiscrimination protections to life, disability and long term care insurance, mortgages, lending and other areas.{{Citation needed|date=August 2020}}

CRG issued five anthologies of commentaries:

• Rights and Liberties in the Biotech Age edited by Sheldon Krimsky and Peter Shorett
• Race and the Genetic Revolution: Science, Myth and Culture
• Genetic Explanations: Sense and Nonsense edited by Krimsky and Jeremy Gruber
• Biotechnology in our Lives edited by Krimsky and Gruber
• The GMO Deception edited by Krimsky and Gruber
• Principles and projects

CRG "fosters public debate about the social, ethical and environmental implications of genetic technologies." They list three central principles:

• The public must have access to clear and understandable information on technological innovations.
• The public must be able to participate in public and private decision making concerning technological developments and their implementation.
• New technologies must meet social needs. Problems rooted in poverty, racism, and other forms of inequality, according to CRG, cannot be remedied by technology alone.

In 2007, CRG hosted a retreat to refresh the mission statement and determine goals for the future of the organization. The outcome was that CRG should:

• Explore and document developments in biotechnology through a holistic approach that considers science within a social, cultural, ethical, and environmental context.{{Whosequote|date=November 2011|reason=what part of this is a quote?}}
• Serve as a global knowledge resource, providing information and education about the potential impact of new and emerging biotechnologies.{{Whosequote|date=November 2011|reason=what part of this is a quote?}}
• Develop concrete policy solutions to address what CRG feels are emerging issues in biotechnology.{{Whosequote|date=November 2011|reason=what part of this is a quote?}}
• Mobilize and collaborate with scientists and other organizations to inform the public and promote democratic control of science.{{Whosequote|date=November 2011|reason=what part of this is a quote?}}
• Expose what CRG views as over-simplified and distorted claims regarding the role of genetics in human disease, development and behavior.{{Whosequote|date=November 2011|reason=what part of this is a quote?}}

The pioneering contributions of CRG to public interest initiatives concerned with appropriate use of biotechnologies are recounted in the book Biotech Juggernaut: Hope, Hype, and Hidden Agendas of Entrepreneurial Bioscience (Routledge, 2019).

The CRG publishes Genewatch,{{Cite web |url=http://www.councilforresponsiblegenetics.org/GeneWatch/GeneWatchBrowser.aspx?archive=yes&volumeId=25 |title=GeneWatch |access-date=2012-08-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120905234728/http://www.councilforresponsiblegenetics.org/GeneWatch/GeneWatchBrowser.aspx?archive=yes&volumeId=25 |archive-date=2012-09-05 |url-status=dead }} America's first and (according to CRG in 2009) only magazine dedicated to monitoring biotechnology's social, ethical and environmental consequences. The publication covers a broad spectrum of issues, from genetically modified food to biological weapons, genetic privacy and discrimination, reproductive technology, and human cloning. Established in 1983,{{Cite web |url=https://dl.tufts.edu/catalog/tufts:RCR01007 |title=Council for Responsible Genetics |website=Tufts Digital Library |language=en |access-date=2018-09-17}} the publication won the Utne Independent Press Award for General Excellence in the category of newsletters in 2006.{{cite web| title = Winner of the Utne Independent Press Award for General Excellence: Newsletters | url = http://www.utne.com/2007-01-01/GeneralExcellencenewsletters.aspx | publisher = Utne Reader | date = January 2007 | accessdate = 2008-09-11 }}

A major source of CRG's funding is the Ford Foundation, which provided $420,000 in grants during 2005-2007.{{cite web | title = Grant Search Results | url = http://www.fordfound.org/grants/database/searchresults?keywords=Council+for+Responsible+Genetics | publisher = Ford Foundation | accessdate = 2008-09-11 }}{{Dead link|date=July 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

• Bioethics
• Genomics

{{Reflist}}

• {{official website|http://www.councilforresponsiblegenetics.org/}}

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Category:Appropriate technology organizations

Category:Medical and health organizations based in Massachusetts

Category:Biotechnology organizations

Category:Genetics organizations

Category:1983 establishments in Massachusetts

Category:1983 establishments in the United States

Category:Organizations established in 1983