Page 21 of Attachment E 
Section III 
SUMMARY OF WHO — SPONSORED RISK 
ASSESSMENT SURVEY 
During January of 1976, the WHO performed a direct survey of the 
opinions of scientists knowledgeable in this area of biological research. 
In a letter circulated to over two hundred of them, suggestions were 
requested on (1) which kind of experiments, if any, could provide useful 
information, (2) the facility suitable to perform them, (3) the resources 
and time required. 
Of the sixty or so answers received, a handful expressed opposition 
to this WHO action, on the grounds that (a) it was duplicating efforts of 
other organizations, (b) risk evaluation would yield no useful in- 
formation, (c) the risks were negligible, or (d) it was inappropriate for 
WHO to take initiatives in this area. 
Among the many (over 90%) positive replies, some expressed the 
opinion that the broad field of the microbial and plasmid ecology was 
one from which much could be learned. Studies involving feeding of 
specifically marked E. coli strains to volunteers, and monitoring of 
laboratory workers involved in plasmid experiments have been 
suggested by many scientists. 
Several variations of the “polyoma” experiments currently being 
undertaken by EMBO and NIH have been described. In line with the 
proposal, some scientists have remarked that the most useful ex- 
periments for the evaluation of risks are exactly those for which a ban 
has been asked (e.g. the cloning in E. coli of genes for toxin formation). 
The study of the effect of foreign genes on the “fitness” of their hosts in 
a variety of media or environments, has also been presented as an im- 
portant approach to evaluate the chance of survival of manipulated 
bacteria, were they to escape from the laboratory. The occurrnce of 
interspecific transfer of DNA was also considered a key element for the 
evaluation of risk, as was the knowledge of the stability of genetic in- 
formation in recombinant DNA molecules and in fused cells. The 
probability of exchange of genes between micro-organisms and animal 
hosts should be studied under conditions where such exchange could 
be favored (as in a rotting carcass), or even required for survival: the 
example has been made of tissue culture cells exposed to toxic 
amounts of mercury in the presence of bacteria containing a plasmid 
capable of detoxifying the metal. 
As for the feasibility of such experiments, the high-risk facilities of 
the Microbiological Research Establishment in the UK and the soon-to- 
be-ready laboratories of NIH in the US have been suggested by some. 
Budget evaluations, provided by several scientists, have given hints that 
most of these experiments need not be expensive, and could be done in 
a relatively short time (a few years at most). 
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