Dr. W. Gartl and 
- 2 - 
Hay 7, 1979 
USA would be simply foolish, damaging and embarrassing to the USA since 
there are no reasons for such restrictions which are based only on scare 
scenarios . 
Proposal 5: I strongly support this proposal, especially since the 
restriction for phage vectors was never intended and Just crept in inadvertently 
Into the 1976 Guidelines during some rewriting process. The restriction was 
originally Intended only for the plasmid vectors. 
Proposal 6 : I strongly support this change, especially since I made 
practical ly the same proposal to exclude from the NIH Guidelines all novel 
recombinant DMA in EK1 and EK2 host-vector combinations In my letter to 
Don Fredrickson on December 28, 1977 and In my testimony on December 15/16, 
1977 (see Recombinant DNA Research Vol. 3, Appendices, September 1978, 
(NIH) 78-1844, pp. A161-A164). Since it is now about one-and-a-hal f years 
from this proposal and two years from the Falmouth meeting, I believe this 
change is long overdue. 
Proposals 11a and 12 : I see no logical reason for using containment as 
high as P2 for Streptomyces and Bad 1 ius subtl 11s . They Just require good 
microbiological practices without any bureaucratic containment. It is a 
duty of RAC to justify the P2 containment, which introduces its own risks 
(see Trends In Biochem. Sciences 3. : N243-N247 (1978)] and is quite 
costly. P1-P4 containment should not be proposed without any valid 
scientific justification, since I believe that the period of the recombinant 
DNA hysteria is over and at present scientific reason should prevail. 
As a former member of RAC I send all my best wishes for your May 21- 
23 meeting, which I see is not only attended by 50-100$ more members but 
also is supposed to last 50-100$ longer than In our early times of RAC. 
But I guess this is the way the wind blows! I hope these comments will 
reach you before the deadline of May 14 and, thus, would be considered 
by RAC members before the May 21-23 meeting. 
With best personal regards. 
Sincerely yours, 
/ 
Waclaw Szybalskl 
Professor of Oncology 
WS :ms 
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