2677 Ellendale Place 
Los Angeles, California 90007 
November 19, 1979 
Honorable Patricia Roberts Harris 
Secretary 
U. S. Department of Health and Human Services 
330 Independence Avenue, S. W. 
Washington, D. C. 20201 
Dear Madam Secretary: 
I fully concur with the Coalition for Responsible Genetic Research 
that the NIH Director f s recent relaxation of safety guidelines for recombinant 
ENA research is unjustified. The proliferation of recombinant ENA research in 
the absence of respectable risk-evaluation studies is promoting a situation 
which may well prove to be both intolerable and irreversible* 
A central scientific consideration is that, because of the imperfect 
correspondence between gene structure and gene product, there is no adequate 
basis for grading containment requirements on any "phylogenetic" scale reflecting 
the origin of the implanted ENA. This point is amplified on page U8 of the 
enclosed booklet, the entire contents of which we respectfully commend to your 
thoughtful attention* 
The Coalition^ call for public comment (via the Federal Register) on 
Dr* Fredrickson 1 s decisions, the preparation and submission of an environmental 
impact statement thereon, and a meeting with the dissenting members of the RAC, 
constitutes a vital safeguard against dangers of possibly ruinous proportions* 
Tou must not lend your name to the fatuous and ungrounded promotionalisra which 
has characterised NIH’s retreat from the original guidelines* 
Sincerely yours. 
Enclosure 
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