The Guidelines also assume that experiments with Escheria 
Coli pose a particular hazard to humans because E . Coli normally 
inhabits the human intestine. The Guidelines specify detailed 
biological containment requirements for experiments with E . Coli 
host-vector systems. Although laboratory strains of E . Coli 
differ from those found in humans, they may be able to colonize 
in the human gut or pass their genetic material to the strains 
which are found in humans. Also some strains of E.Coli are 
pathogenic. Experiments with laboratory E . Coli might create 
recombinant DNA which when passed to pathogenic strains increases 
their virulence or range. The specific hazards of E . Coli , and 
other micro-organisms, which are commonly used as host-vector 
systems in recombinant DNA experiments must be discussed in the 
final EIS. 
The Guidelines also assume that experiments which take 
genetic material from primates are more dangerous than those 
which take it from lower organisms. Generally, higher levels of 
biological containment are required for experiments with DNA 
from higher organisms. The final EIS must explain the reasons 
for this assumption and spell out the specific dangers NIH fore- 
sees from experiments with primate DNA. 
The final EIS should also discuss the specific hazards 
foreseen by critics of the Guidelines. To assess the views of 
12 
Appendix K — 138 
