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VI. 
DESCRIPTION OF ALTERNATIVES 
The following general classes of action have been considered as 
alternatives to, or additions to, the issuance of NIH Guidelines for 
Recombinant DNA Research. The impact of each is described briefly, 
and reference is made to other portions of this document that have 
a more complete discussion of the particular impact in question. 
A. No Action 
This alternative --failure to issue guidelines --would have perpetuated 
the situation existing prior to June 2 3, 1976. At that time the only 
restrictions on recombinant DNA research stemmed from informal 
voluntary agreement of the research community to abide by guidelines 
which had been developed at the International Conference on Recom- 
binant DNA Molecules, held at Asilomar, California, in February 1975, 
and which had been published in scientific journals. The Asilomar guide- 
lines differ in substance from the NIH Guidelines, and are considerably 
less stringent and less detailed in their requirements for containment 
of potentially hazardous organisms. For example, experiments that 
may be carried out with minimal containment according to the specific 
language of the Asilomar guidelines (e.g., the construction of an 
E. coli plasmid containing the noncancer-producing DNA segment of 
SV40) require P3 or P4 according to the NIH Guidelines. In addition, 
a list of experiments recommended to be deferred in the Asilomar 
guidelines is expanded in the NIH Guidelines. Furthermore, disregard 
of the Asilomar guidelines carries no sanctions on investigators, and 
it might be assumed that the initial high level of voluntary compliance 
would slowly erode if a more formal and explicit structure were not 
provided, particularly by the principal supporter of such research 
in the United States. 
As noted previously, the restrictions contained in the NIH Guide- 
lines were intended to minimize the risk of harm to the environment. 
Further, it should be pointed out that pending bills introduced in the 
House of Representatives and Senate require compliance with the NIH 
Guidelines for all who engage in recombinant DNA activities in the 
Nation. It should also be noted that certain types of experiment now 
covered in the Guidelines would no longer be subject to regulation in 
the bills. 
