MINUTES OF MEETING - December 6-7 
6 
Dr. Young then requested a description of the containment 
procedures to be followed in shipping the DMA from Plum Island 
to the West Goast. Dr. Callis, Director of Plum Island Animal 
Disease Center, responded that after the material is safety 
tested, it will be placed in a polyethylene bag which will be 
placed inside of a metal container containing sodium hydroxide. 
This container will be sealed and will be placed inside another 
can which will also be seeded. That will be placed inside of a 
thermos container which will be placed inside of a wooden box 
which would be couriered to California. 
Dr . Campbell said that a situation where all of the pieces of 
FMD DNA could come together should be avoided, although a 
barrier to spread exists in getting FMD genetic information from 
E. coli into a mammalian cell. Dr. Baltimore pointed out that 
should the virus escape, an established procedure for dealing 
with this situation exists. Dr. Campbell said that he would be 
more comfortable if the material removed from Plum Island had 
zero probability of harm. 
Dr. Goldstein asked whether FMD could be packaged in a phage 
coat. Dr. Baltimore stated that it could be packaged. 
Dr. Goldstein then suggested that the RAC consider appro/ing 
only that part of the proposal dealing with work at Plum Island, 
i.e.. Stage I. 
Dr. Bachrach then explained some of the biology of FMD. He said 
that the genome could be cleaved yielding an L and an S fragment. 
He said that as an alternative pathway the protocol could work 
with the L fragment. Dr. Bachrach said that the L fragment is 
non-infectious in mammalian cells. 
Mr. Thornton said that he had problems with the material being 
shipped by courier to California and subsequently placed in a Pi 
laboratory. He said that either the material is not dangerous, 
or it is infectious and should be handled as FMD virus. He 
proposed that the RAC accept Dr. Goldstein's suggestion of 
approving Stage I. Dr. Young asked if multiple experiments had 
demonstrated that the L fragment is not infectious. He 
said that if this is the case, the L fragment would provide a 
very elegant biological containment. Dr. Bachrach said that use 
of the L fragment is not part of the proposed protocol but rather 
an alternative pathway. Dr. Baltimore stated that he would be 
willing to accept as an amendment to his motion that approval be 
recommended for the cloning of reverse transcripts from the L 
fragment. 
[ 399 ] 
