Michael Braukus
Headquarters, Washington, DC                    July 26, 1996
(Phone:  202/358-1979)


RELEASE:  96-149

NASA ADVISORY COUNCIL APPROVES BION MISSION EXPERIMENTS

     The NASA Advisory Council has accepted the 
recommendation of the Bion Task Force, which approved all the 
experiments to be performed on the Bion 11 and 12 missions as 
having high scientific merit and meeting animal welfare 
standards.

     The Bion Task Force was charged by NASA Administrator 
Daniel S. Goldin to review the integrity of the science plan 
for the mission; assure that there are no alternative means 
for obtaining the information provided by these experiments; 
and review the Bion Program for ethical and humane animal 
treatment during all phases of the mission.

     Dr. Ronald Merrell, chairman, Department of Surgery, 
Yale University, New Haven, CT, and chairman of the Bion Task 
Force, presented the findings to the NASA Advisory Council at 
its July 24 meeting.  The council was unanimous in accepting 
the task force's recommendation.  The council has informed 
Administrator Goldin of its decision that NASA should proceed 
with the Bion mission.

     In addition, the Bion Task Force recommended that NASA 
develop and implement an enhanced bioethical policy for 
future animal experiments.  Such policies are not a specific 
requirement of current federal regulations. 
 
     The Bion program is a cooperative space venture among 
the U.S., Russian and French space agencies for the conduct 
of biomedical research using Russian-owned rhesus monkeys.  
Bion 11 is expected to launch from Russia in October 1996 and 
has a mission duration of approximately 14 days.  Bion 12 is 
scheduled for launch from Russia in 1998.  Both Russian 
spacecraft are unpiloted and retrievable.

                    -end-

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