63 
There are, in addition, othe^ factors contributing very substantially 
to compliance. These arise from the nature of the scientific process 
and community. Achievement of interesting and important scientific 
results is meaningless unless they are shared with colleagues --by 
informal communication and finally by publication in the scientific 
literature. It is partly for this reason that scientists have evolved 
extensive oral and written outlets for communication. The Guidelines 
recommend that all publications dealing with recombinant DNA exper- 
iments state the containment measures used. And increasingly, 
scientific articles include such statements. 
Furthermore, most laboratories are open institutions. Students and 
colleagues come and go; visits from colleagues from other institutions 
are frequent. Publicity regarding any given experiment together with 
the familiarity of others regarding the laboratory facilities and practices 
assures that noncompliant experimentation will be disclosed. There 
will be considerable and constant pressure on investigators to comply. 
The pressure will come formally from responsible institutional officers, 
local biohazards committees, and NIH review of both applications and 
MUAs, as well as informally from colleagues and students. 
The extensive compliance with earlier voluntary guidelines and 
deferrals concerning recombinant DNA research indicates the serious 
commitment of the scientific community to the goals of the NIH 
Guidelines. 
This discussion is not meant to imply that NIH can predict absolute 
compliance. For there are problems, as noted by the commentators, 
in ensuring the adequacy of the "self -policing mechanisms" within the 
Guidelines. Some individuals may at times be less than vigorous in 
use of the required procedures, and some may be less well trained 
than others. It is for these reasons that the requirements in the Guide- 
lines involve many overlapping approaches to containment, each serving 
to control breaches in the others. It is also for these reasons that the 
containment requirements have been made stricter than the risk- 
assessments suggest are necessary. 
