7 
provide a basis for voluntary industry compliance. The NIH 
Guidelines have come to be viewed by the majority of scientists 
and policy-makers as a more than adequate means of regulating the 
conduct of rDNA research. Under the Guidelines, NIH is 
responsible for the oversight of government-sponsored research 
involving rDNA molecules. The principal administrative unit 
established, to help accomplish this objective, has been the 
Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee (RAC). This group has in the 
past exercised responsibility for preparing drafts of the 
Guidelines and, more recently, recommending substantial revisions 
which downgraded the containment requirement for most 
experiments. Based on the latest risk assessments, the RAC 
continues to review the guidelines and offer advice on changes. 
Beyond those chosen to provide scientific expertise, the 
membership of the RAC includes individuals knowledgeable in 
legal, social, environmental and occupational issues but does not 
include representatives appointed from industry. While one of 
the current members, David Martin, Jr., M.D., is Vice-President, 
Research, of Genentech, Dr. Martin was actually appointed while 
on the faculty of the University of California. 
Under tie Guidelines, NIH now delegates most of its 
oversight responsibilities to the institutions which carry on 
the research by requiring them to establish their own 
Institutional 3iosafety Committees (IBC). The function of these 
local bodies is to review all rDNA research at the institution 
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