Deregulating Low-Risk Research

By ADIL E. SHAMOO

In the past few decades, with the explosion of biotechnology and the aging of the population, the use of human subjects in research has increased significantly. The United States has done much to protect human research subjects, and no one can deny the importance of keeping them safe. But at the same time, we have handicapped researchers whose work poses no threat to humans. It is time to exempt such low-risk studies from federal regulation.

The National Commission for the Protection