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The issue of recombinant DNA research has been studied by national 
bodies in many countries throughout the world and by a number of 
international organizations. In no cases has a total ban of the research 
been advocated. The United Kingdom and Canada have issued guidelines 
which differ in detail but are similar conceptually to the NIH Guidelines. 
Other countries are generally following the U. S. or U. K. guidelines, 
including Denmark, the Netherlands, France, Federal Republic of Germany, 
Israel, Sweden, and Switzerland. Endorsement for this position has been 
given by the European Science Foundation, the European Molecular Biology 
Organizations, the International Council of Scientific Unions, and the World 
Health Organization. 
The effect of a total ban in the United States would be to deprive human- 
ity of any benefits of the research that would have been done here. These 
are described in Section IV-C-2. Another statement of the potential 
benefits is given in the article "Recombinant DNA: Fact and Fiction" by 
Stanley N. Cohen, in the February 18, 1977, issue of Science (1). An 
excerpt appears on the following page: 
C. Development of Different Guidelines 
Another alternative action was the issuance of materially different 
guidelines. Each of the stipulations in the NIH Guidelines was made 
after assessment of the possible hazards associated with particular 
experiments. The available data, however, were limited, and different 
conclusions could have been reached. Some issues addressed in the 
preparation of the Guidelines which could have led to different specifica- 
tions are as follows: 
d 
1. Levels of Physical Containment 
For those experiments in which the potential risk is entirely hypo- 
thetical or at least controversial, the physical containment levels 
assigned could have been higher or lower. Examples of controversial 
issues are the recommendations with respect to containment levels for 
recombinant experiments involving bacterial cells and DNA derived 
from cold-blooded vertebrates (which some scientist feel should be 
under higher containment levels), and for experiments involving the 
use of DNA from animal viruses (which some scientists feel should 
be under lower containment levels). Indeed guidelines issued by the 
United Kingdom and by Canada differ from the NIH Guidelines in the 
exact levels of physical containment assigned to different specific 
experiments. It is expected that as new information is obtained, the 
Guidelines will be revised periodically to modify containment levels 
required. 
