Issues and Reviews in Teratology: Volume 4

Each new volume of this publication brings the privilege of expressing some of my thoughts on subjects of interest to its readers. In the past year or so public concern about environmental and societal dangers has largely turned to those of cosmic proportion-Chernobyl, the thinning ozone layer, AIDS, and the like-and thankfully our subject matter has been allowed a respite. Even the miniepidemic of craniofacial and other malformations caused by the retinoid antiacne drug Accutane made no headlines. Incidentally, this might have been a tragedy of far greater proportions had it not been nipped in the bud by the historical ground­ work that quickly permitted it to be recognized as due to an environ­ mental teratogen-the sort of fact the public and authorities inadequately appreciate. But there is a warning connected with this abeyance of media focus on teratological matters. Disquiet over cosmic imbalances will sub­ side as they are corrected or horrendous projections fail to materialize, and even cures for dread infectious diseases, or Puritan revolution in­ terdicting such plagues, will be forthcoming, and these things will occur long before congenital malformations are no more. And as the year-in and year-out recurrence of over 100,000 an­ nual births of seriously malformed infants in the United States alone continues to force itself on the public consciousness, we can expect a heightened demand that "a cure" be found, because "if we can land a man on the moon, if we can prevent polio, why can't we . . .