May 21-23 - MINUTES OF MEETING 
li 
rigorously characterized and free of harm- 
ful genes would be sent to three members of 
the RAC for review and recanmendation, as 
well as to all members of the RAC for at 
least a 3-week comment period. The procedure 
would be limited to requests for scale-up 
to 100 liters or less, and is an interim 
procedure to be reconsidered by the RAC 
at its next meeting. 
IX. RISK ASSESSMENT 
A. Remarks of Dr. King 
Dr. Jonathan King of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology 
made some general remarks about risk assessment. He stated that 
E. coli strains are the number one cause of hospital acquired 
infections. He suggested that a systematic collection and 
survey of data on hospital infections should be added to the 
risk assessment plan. He said further that the plan should 
recognize the role of plasmids and phages in the etiology 
of disease. 
Dr. King also stated his views of the Rowe-Martin polyoma risk 
assessment experiments. He said that he disagreed with the 
statement in the proposed risk-assessment plan, published 
in the Federal Register of April 2, 1979, that there is 
no evidence that the inserted DNA produced any special 
hazard. He summarized his conclusions from the results 
of the lambda-polyoma recombinant experiments. He said 
that he feels that the results suggest that polyoma 
could get into human cells, and if the cells are coinfected 
with another virus, a new recombinant virus could be 
produced. Dr. King also expressed concerns about the 
possibility of autoimmune disease. 
Dr. Krimsky later questioned the different interpretations 
of the polyoma experiments by Drs. Rcwe and King. 
Dr. Baltimore stated that Dr. Rcwe's interpretation of 
the experiments is appropriate. He said that polyoma 
monomer inserts in the phage did not cause tumors. 
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