BioCentury
ARTICLE | Politics, Policy & Law

The potential for a bigger agenda

May 22, 1995 7:00 AM UTC

WASHINGTON - Although its leaders, including Jeremy Rifkin and Rev. Wesley Granberg-Michaelson of the Reformed Church in America, have been longtime opponents of biotechnology, the Joint Appeal Against Human and Animal Patenting has succeeded in lining up a large number of religious leaders who were previously silent on the issues. Their success may rest, at least in part, on the ambiguity of some of their statements.

While the group has been careful to limit its explicit opposition to biotech's patenting of genes, the potential for a larger agenda lies not far below the surface...