Dr. Donald Fredrickson 
October 12, 1976 
Page 9 
FOOTNOTES 
1. National Institutes of Health, "Guidelines for Research In- 
volving Recombinant DNA Molecules," Federal Register, 
Vol. 41, No. 131, July 7, 1976, p. 27911. Referred to in 
the following as "Guidelines." 
2. National Institutes of Health, "Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement for Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant 
DNA Molecules," August 19, 1976. Referred to in the fol- 
lowing as "EIS." 
3. Federation of American Scientists, "Public Interest Report: 
Recombinant DNA," April, 1976, p. 1. (Position Paper, 
Document 9 . ) 
4. We welcome the admission of the authors of the EIS that the 
present absence of hard facts on the risks precludes ruling 
out this possibility. As they state: 
(i) Current knowledge does not permit accurate assess- 
ment of risks from particular recombinant DNA 
experiments (EIS, p. 18). 
(ii) Different assessments of the hazards could have been 
made and consequently more stringent precautions 
could have been taken (EIS, pp. 50, 51-52). 
(iii) Measures for physical containment reduce but do not 
prevent the potential for leaks (EIS, pp. 61-62) . 
(iv) Lack of knowledge about the risks makes it impossible 
to know to what extent laboratory personnel and the 
public will be endangered by exposure to organisms 
carrying novel combinations of genes (EIS, p. 60). 
4a. Quoted in letter of Richard Andrews to Donald Fredrickson, 
April 16, 1976, p. 1. (Position Paper, Document 10.) 
4b. EIS, p. 2. 
4c. Donald Fredrickson, "Decision of the Director, National Inst 
tutes of Health, to Release Guidelines for Research on Re- 
combinant DNA Molecules," Federal Register, Vol. 41, No. 131 
July 7, 1976, p. 27906, col. 2. Hereafter referred to as 
"Decision . " 
4d. Quoted in letter of Richard Andrews to Donald Fredrickson, 
p. 3. (Position Paper, Document 10.) 
Appendix K — 38 
