May 21-23 - MINUTES OF MEETING 
23 
are seeking exemption from the Guidelines under Section I-E-3. The basic 
question is whether only a naturally occurring plasmid should be considered 
to be indigenous, or whether the definition should be broader. Dr. Novick 
proposed that a plasmid may be regarded as indigenous to a given species 
if it occurs naturally in that species or may be transferred to it by 
well-established physiological measures and is maintained there as an 
autonomous replicon. Some members felt that this definition is too 
broad. Dr. Kutter suggested that broad host-range plasmids be excluded. 
Dr. Day pointed out that exemption I-E-3 applies only to self-cloning 
experiments. Dr. Young said that most experiments could be carried out 
as non-exempt experiments. The RAC voted 8 to 7, with 3 abstentions, to 
defer consideration until the next meeting and refer the question of 
indigenous plasmids to the Plasmid Subcommittee. 
XIX. REQUEST FOR ASSIGNMENT OF CONTAINMENT LEVEL 
Dr. Setlow as chairman of the Brookhaven National Laboratory IBC had 
requested (648), on behalf of Dr. Benjamin Burr, clarification of containment 
levels required for the second part of a two-part proposal. (Dr. Setlcw 
absented herself from the roart during this discussion). The first part 
involves the cloning of DNA frcm wild- type maize in an HV2 Saccharcmyces 
cerevisiae system under PI conditions. The second part involves returning 
the DNA to a proline mutant of maize. Dr. Setlow proposed HV2 S. cerevisiae 
should be considered as equivalent to EK2 in the context of Section III-C-6 
of the Guidelines which permits the return of DNA segments to a higher 
eukaryotic host of origin. With this interpretation, the second part of 
the proposal is permissible under the Guidelines under PI conditions. 
Seme concern was expressed about the possible incorporation of random 
fragments of S. cerevisiae DNA into maize. Dr. Young made a motion to 
approve this specific request. Dr. Goldstein requested that the motion 
be amended to require the use of an HV2 vector nonintegrating in yeast. 
Dr. Young accepted the amendment, and the motion was passed by a vote 
of 15 to 0, with 2 abstentions. It was agreed that the whole issue of 
equivalence needs further consideration at a subsequent meeting. 
XX. QUORUM REQUIREMENTS 
Ms. Patricia King introduced the discussion on quorum requirements. She 
proposed that a majority of the Committee should constitute a quorum. 
Drs. Setlow and Gar tl and pointed out that this proposal is the same as 
that specified in KEW regulations, namely that a quorum consists of a 
majority of the Committee's authorized membership. 
During this discussion, the policy for recognition of non-RAC members was 
again raised. It was noted that the working group on procedures will be 
considering this question. Mr. Thornton suggested that non-RAC members 
might be allowed to speak with the unanimous consent of the RAC. Ms. King 
requested that the working group consider adopting a policy of no public 
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