8 
III. 
OBJECTIVE OF THE NIH ACTION 
The action- -release of the NIH Guidelines --is intended to allow the 
benefits of NIH-sponsored recombinant DNA research to accrue while 
protecting laboratory workers, the general public, and the environment 
from infection by possibly hazardous agents that may result from the 
research. The Guidelines are meant to ensure that NIH-supported 
experiments involving recombinant DNA molecules are carried out under 
conditions and safeguards that minimize the possibility of the harmful 
exposure of any human being or other component of the environment 
to any possibly hazardous product of such experiments. 
It is NIH policy that all work supported by NIH, either in its own 
laboratories or through grants or contracts to various organizations, 
must be carried out according to the Guidelines. As part of this 
objective, the Guidelines describe procedures that will be used to 
ensure implementation. A further objective of establishing the 
Guidelines is to influence, to the extent possible, other Federal, 
non-Federal, and foreign organizations in their efforts to ensure that 
recombinant DNA experiments will be carried out with minimal risk. 
