FEBRUARY 15-16 - MINUTES OF MEETING 
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DNA experiments involving Agrobacterium tumefaciens and 
the infection of tobacco plant protoplasts with recom- 
binant DNA molecules containing restriction fragments of 
an A. tumefaciens plasmid. 
Dr. Day indicated that the proposed experiments are 
covered by the revised NIH Guidelines and do not require 
further consideration by the RAC. 
B. REQUEST FROM DR. MARY-DELL CHILTON. 
The RAC reviewed a proposal (610) from Dr. Mary- Dell Chilton 
of the University of Washington for certification of Agro- 
bacterium tumefaciens and Ti::RP4 cointegrate plasmids as 
a host-vector system for the introduction of genes into 
plants. 
Dr. Day noted that the Ti plasmid is being proposed as a 
general vehicle for introducing DNA into plants. He 
pointed out that the utility of the preposed system will 
be defeated if the host or plasmid are compromised. Dr. 
Chilton proposes to use A. tumefaciens carrying a Ti::RP4 
plasmid with an inserted ovalbumin gene to infect plant tissue. 
Dr. Novick stated that use of the RP4 plasmid poses a serious 
problem. The RAC agreed that the proposal should be considered 
by a Working Group composed of Drs. Day, Tolin, and Zaitlin 
plus the Plasmid Subcommittee, published in the Federal 
Register for public comment, and considered as a major action 
at the next meeting. 
XXV. PROCEDURES FOR APPROVAL OF LARGE-SCALE EXPERIMENTS . 
The revised Guidelines state in section IV-E-l-b-(3)-(d) that the 
Director, NIH is responsible for: 
"Authorizing, under procedures specified by the RAC, large- 
scale experiments (i.e., involving more than 10 liters of 
culture) for recombinant DNAs that are rigorously character- 
ized and free of harmful sequences (see Footnote 3 and Section 
I-D-6) 
As an interim procedure, ORDA proposed the following procedures for 
the handling of requests for large-scale experiments involving recom- 
binants that are rigorously characterized and free of harmful sequences. 
Applications for such experiments would be submitted to ORDA and sent 
for review by the Chairperson and two members of the RAC. The latter 
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