The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, April 22, 1986- Page 5

SCIENCE


Chromosome analyses show modern man

NEW YORK (AP) - A new analysis
of chromosomes from Africa and
Eurasian people supports the view
that modern man arose in Africa, but
scientists said the question remains
far from settled.
Research has suggested that Africa
is where modern man, called homo
sapiens, evolved from his ancestors.
But fossil evidence is "very scanty"

and data from previous molecular
research such as the new study "still
needs to be improved upon," said
study co-author Dr. James Wain-
scoat of John Radcliffe Hospital in
Oxford, England:.
"MY OPINION, really, is that...all
of the data together doesn't constitute
any kind of proof," Wainscoat said in
a telephone interview.

Africa is "as good a bet as
anywhere," said Harvard an-
thropology professor David Pilbeam,
but without good fossil record from
Asia for comparison, the question
remains open.
Wainscoat, with colleagues at the
University of Oxford and University
College Hospital in Nigeria, studied
variations in chromosomes from hun-

dreds of prople in eight population
groups. They reported their work in
the British science journal Nature.
CHROMOSOMES are microscopic
strands in every bodily cell that carry
genes, the blueprints for the cells.
Genes are basically sequenced of
chemicals arranged in sort of a Morse
code. Between genes lie other
sequences, called introns, whose fun-

originated
ctions are not fully understood.
Humans carry 23 pairs of
chromosomes. The researchers
focused on introns along the
chromosome scientists have num-
bered 11, Wainscoat said. They used
special enzymes to find whether
specific chemical sequences were
present at five places along the
chromosome.

in Africa
Then, noting where the sequences
were present and absent for each
chromosome tested, they looked for
how that pattern differed among the
population groups.
The idea, simply put, is that the'
greater the differences between two
population groups, the farther back
in time their lineages split from a
common ancestor.

Institute tiptoes around sensitive research issues

(Continued from Page 1)
bers show up at the monthly meetings,
where a bountiful "deli extravagan-
za" buffet dinner from Zingerman's,
beer, wine, and coffee are offered.
"It's a known fact of human
behavior that food creates a comfor-
fortable setting, stimulates
discussion," says CIVS member Carl
Cohen, a philosophy professor who
teaches a course in medical ethics.
THE FREE DINNER seems to be
one of the most eagerly anticipated
features of the evening. Singer
describes the level of discourse as
"amateurish" and Steneck describes
his attempts to generate agenda items
as frustrating. "I find myself pleading
with the membership for input on
what they wish to discuss. When you
get down to the nitty gritty, few are
willing to take the lead," he says.
In a year when University
researchers have forwarded
proposals of more than $4.5 million
for funding in Strategic Defense
Initiative related research, it would
seem there is plenty to discuss in the
area of values and science. But the
issue has been only briefly and
obliquely addressed by the group.
CIVS was created in the mid-1970s
as a think tank on the confluence of
values and science. At the time, there
was "a national outcry" to examine
the ethics of recombinant DNA
research, according to CIVS founding
director, English Prof. Eric Rabkin.
At the University of Michigan,
opinion was divided and debate
heated, but there were no official
1 channels to examine the issues. No
University body was invested with the
authority to advise the sanction or
prohibition of such research on cam-
pus. In an effort to confront the issues,
several committees were set up under
the auspices of the Vice President of
Research, one of which eventually
evolved into CIVS.
TO FULFILL the wishes of CIVS'
founder, then LSA Dean Billy Frye, it
would seem appropriate for CIVS to
attempt to "close the circle between
the humanities and science," in the
1980s by directly addressing the
ethical issues surrounding Star Wars
research. "Discussion in the general
s area of science and values is very im-
portant because of the power of scien-
ce to modify and ultimately
manipulate our environment," Frye
said recently. Certainly the results
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of development and potential use of
nuclear weaponry are scientific en-
deavors which might radically
"modify and ultimately manipulate
our environment."
When the group discussed SDI
research in the fall, Singer says, "The
debate was certainly open. But of
course no one wanted to address the
issues (of maiming and killing)."
According to Steneck, "We tried to
stay away as much as possible from
the substance of Star Wars, and stay
with what the University involvement
should be. There was a focus on what
academicians should do who feel
strongly on specific issues."
The group did hear a presentation
by Political Science Prof. Raymond
Tanter regarding the rejection of his
proposal to conduct classified resear-
ch on the impact of the Strategic
Defense Initiative on arms control
negotiations.
Singer maintains, "CIVS is
basically a place for people to let off
steam, but not attempt to bring in a
relative expertise. My impression is
that the University administration is
addressing the moral implications of
a variety of current issues with the
faint hope that some new insights
might emerge."
* * * * * *
Last spring, the Reagan Ad-
ministration began to deploy more
then rhetoric about developing a

national missile defense system. A
number of University professors
responded to the call for research
proposals when the Pentagon's Office
of Innovative Technology announced
the availability of funds. There are
now three "basic research" projects
going on in University labs, funded at
$463,000 Department of Defense
dollars. $4.5 million more worth of
Star Wars research proposals are
pending.
Proponents and activists have been
successful for garnering support for
their activities in concert with or op-
position to the SDI research. But all
agree that attempts to achieve high-
level campus-wide debate have
fallen short. "I don't know whether in-
teraction with other groups is worth a
whole lot of beans."
LAST FALL more than half of the
professors in the University's physics
department signed a petition vowing
to refuse to accept funding for
researching the Strategic Defense
Initiative. According to the language
of the petition, the "Star Wars"
scheme is technically infeasible and a
potential impediment to arms control.
On Sept. 20, 1985, a meeting of the
University Board of Regents yielded a
resolution "encouraging" SDI
research. According to Frye, "There
should have been more opportunity
for discussion-it was an oversight as
far as that was concerned."


.W.Take i
NEW from

"" "
.U g

Two weeks later, a largely student
organization, Campuses Against
Weapons in Space, sponsored a
national conference on Star Wars. The
group has urged the University to ab-
stain from participating in the
research.
SEEMINGLY, CIVS would be the
appropriate forum to, as Frye says,
"close the circle between humanities
and the sciences" and stimulate cam-
pus-wide debate on the involvement
of University resources in the
development of the Strategic Defense
Initiative. But it isn't happening.
Michigan Student Assembly
military research director Ingrid
Kock, who was instrumental in
organizing the fall conference on Star
Wars, says University administrators
and faculty made a poor showing at
the event. Likewise, Kock has no of-
ficial ties to the University's Office for
Research and what she describes as
"very little impact" on the policy
process.
Ar~ '
r r
IT
AROUND!
Share the
news,
1~ aIti

a Study Break!

Steneck maintains that MSA was
"at one point" asked to send
representatives to CIVS meetings, but
"there was no response." Kock says
she was never aware of any suchin-
vitation, and is only vaguely acquain-
ted with the group and its activities.
"They could really forward the
terms of campus debate on the ethics
of research issues with literature,
conferences - any kind of outreach,
some kind of outreach," says Kock.
"As I've seen it in the last five years,
it's been primarily students vocally
addressing the issues."
THE ISSUE of increases military

research on campus and stronger ties
to the Pentagon has evoked active and
disparate responses from a variety of
sectors of the University community.
But nowhae has there bear a coalescence
of interest to address the issue. And
CIVS isn't at all eager to assume
that role.
"'There is no reason for CIVS to do
that sort of thing," says Cohen.
"There is no particular thing it
(CIVS) needs to be commissioned to
do-it loses that freewheeling
quality."


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