MINUTES OF MEETING - DECEMBER 6-7 
4 
containment conditions and the requirement that these experiments 
must be registered with the local IBC. Prior review and approval 
of experiments by the IBC would be required when there is attempted 
efficient expression of a gene coding for a eukaryotic protein. 
Dr. Talbot said that Dr. Fredrickson welcomes individual written 
comments by RAC member. 
Dr. Setlow said that the RAC should specifically consider three 
items in the proposed revised Guidelines. The first is how the 
Guidelines should treat single stranded Ff phages. Dr. Setlow 
requested that the "Phage" Subcommittee consider this. The 
second question is whether it is appropriate for HV1CV to be 
substituted for EK1CV in Section III-A-2-a, "Viruses of 
Eukaryotes." She noted that, at the moment, the only non-E. coli 
systems certified as HV2 are yeast systems. Dr. Setlow asked 
Drs. Elena Nightingale and Winston Brill to consider this ques- 
tion. The third question concerns the need for prior NIH 
approval for lowering containment levels for characterized clones 
or purified DNA. Dr. Setlow appointed Drs. Ahmed, Novick, and 
Williams, to consider this issue. For each of these 3 items, 
she requested that the groups prepare recommendation for publica- 
tion in the Federal Register prior to the March 1980 RAC meeting, 
if they feel a change is desirable. 
In response to a question from Dr. Ahmed, Dr. Talbot stated that 
experiments exempt under the Guidelines need not be registered 
with the local IBC. He added that this issue is one of the 
meeting's agenda items. In response to a question from Dr. 
Goldstein, Dr. Talbot cited the decontamination requirements of 
Pi containment. 
IV. REQUEST FOR EXCEPTION TO A PROHIBITION TO DEVELOP FOOT AND MOUTH 
DISEASE VACCINE 
Dr. Setlcw then began discussion of a request from the Department 
of Agriculture Research Center at Plum Island for an exception 
to the prohibition against cloning DNA from a Class 5 pathogen 
(tabs 763, 764, 765, 782, 783). Dr. Baltimore described the 
historical background and the virology of Foot and Mouth Disease 
(FMD). He said that some countries have chosen to vaccinate 
animals while others have not. The United States attempts to 
control Foot and Mouth Disease by rigorous quarantine measures. 
In the U.S., the virus is studied only at the Plum Island Animal 
Disease Center. The proposal before the RAC is an attempt to 
employ a new approach to vaccine development. FMD virus is a 
picomovirus with a genome composed of single strand RNA. The 
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