F.A.S. 
FEDERATION OF AMERICAN SCIENTISTS 
307 Massachusetts Avenue, N.E. 
Washington, D C. 20002 (202) 546-3300 
Board of Sponsors 
(Partial List) 
•Christian B. Anfinsen 
•Kenneth J. Arrow 
•Julius Axelrod 
Leona Baumgartner 
Paul Beeson 
•Hans A. Bethe 
•Konrad Block 
•Norman E. Borlaug 
Anne Pitts Carter 
•Owen Chamberlain 
Abram Chayes 
Mildred Cohn 
•Leon N. Cooper 
•Carl F. Cori 
Paul B. Comely 
•Andre Cournand 
•Max Delbruck 
•Renato Dulbecco 
Paul R. Ehrlick 
•John E. Enders 
Adrian Fisher 
Jerome D. Frank 
John Kenneth Galbraith 
Richard L. Garwin 
Edward L. Ginzton 
•Donald A. Glaser 
•H. K.-Hartline 
Walter W. Heller 
•Alfred D. Hershey 
Hudson Hoagland 
•Robert W. HoUey 
Marc Kac 
Henry S. Kaplan 
Carl Kaysen 
•H. Gobind Khorana 
George B. Kistiakowsky 
•Arthur Kornberg 
•Polykarp Kusch 
•WUlis E. Lamb, Jr. 
•Wassily W, Leontief 
•Fritz Lipman 
•S. E. Luria 
Roy W. Menninger 
Robert Merton 
Matthew S. Meselson 
Neat E. MUler 
Hans J. Morgen thau 
Marston Morse 
•Robert S. Mulliken 
Franklin A. Neva 
•Marshall Nirenberg 
•Severe Ochoa 
Charles E. Osgood 
•Linus Pauling 
George Polya 
Oscar Rice 
David Riesman, Jr. 
•J. Robert Schrieffer 
•Julian Schwinger 
Herbert Scoville, Jr. 
Stanley Sheinbaum 
Alice Kimball Smith 
Cyril S. Smith 
Robert M. Solow 
•WiUaim H. Stein 
•Albert Szent<iyorgyi 
•Howard M. Temin 
James Tobin 
•Charles H. Townes 
•Harold C. Urey 
•George Wald 
Myron E. Wegman 
Victor F. Weisskopf 
Jerome B. Wiesner 
Robert R. Wilson 
C. S. Wu 
Alfred Yankauer 
Herbert F. York 
•Noh«l ljureal«r« 
George W. Rathjens 
Chairman 
Ruth S. Adams 
*Ojvid Baltimore 
Lipman Hers 
(rcolftey Chew 
Rose P . I risch 
John T. Edsall 
Secretary 
Morton M. Halpcrin 
(«arrctl Hardin 
Denis Hayes 
William A Hi)!inhotham 
John P Moldren 
Document 13 
Jerome D. Frank 
Vice-Chairman 
Myra Karstadt 
Daniel Koshtand. Jr. 
Raphael l.iiiauer 
I ranciN low 
Victor Rabinowiteh 
Frank Von Hippel 
Treasurer 
Marc J. Roberts 
Leonard Rodberg 
William ShurclilT 
George A. Stiver 
Jeremy i. Slone 
Jeremy J. Stone 
Director 
I rank Von Hippel 
Myron K, Wegman 
.Alvin Weinberg 
Robert H. Williams 
October 13, 1 j76 
Dr. Donald Fredrickson 
Director, National Institutes 
of Health 
9000 Rockville Pike 
Bethesda, MD 20014 
Dear Dr. Fredrickson: 
As you know, F.A.S. discussed the recombinant DNA guidelines 
in our F.A.S. Public Interest Report of April. Our members were 
polled as to their reactions. Although only a small percent re- 
sponded (about 5%), their reactions seemed significant. Between 
50% and 64% thought the guidelines "about right" but a sizeable 
minority of 30% to 25% thought them "probably insufficiently cautious. 
(The ranges reflect differences between whether biologists or non-bio- 
logists are polled). A small percentage thought the guidelines "pro- 
bably too restrictive," The exact table looks like this; 
biologists 
non-bioloqists 
total 
A. "probably too restrictive" 
12 
11 
23 
B. "probably about right" 
83 
98 
181 
C. "probably insufficiently 
cautious" 
32 
61 
93 
0. "insufficient information" 
2 
23 
25 
129 
193 
322 
Although these respondents had the benefit of our April analysis 
of alternative points of view, they did not, of course, have the 
benefit of the draft impact statement you released on September 9. 
We therefore welcomed the action of NIH in circulating this statement 
to us for comment. 
Responding to NIH's request we decided to circulate the document 
to our 30 elected officials and to those 30 of our 70 Sponsors whose 
field of specialty covered biology, chemistry and biochemistry. In 
Appendix K — 40 
