MINUTES OF MEETING - December 6-7 
30 
provided that the experiments are designed for risk assessment 
and are conducted within the NIH high-containment facilities. 
These containment facilities are Building 41-T on the campus 
and in Building 550 located at the Frederick Cancer Research 
Center. The selection of laboratory practices and containment 
levels for such experiments would be approved by ORDA follow- 
ing consultation with the RAC Risk Assessment Subcommittee 
and the NIH Biosafety Committee. Dr. Gottesman said that 
the principle is justifiable and the containment appears high 
enough to bypass any potential problems. Dr. Gottesman then 
moved acceptance of the proposal as written. Dr. Nightingale 
questioned whether some provision should stipulate that after 
data are evaluated, there should be destruction of any hazard- 
ous materials generated. 
Dr. Young proposed the following amendment to the proposal: 
"If a major biohazard is determined, the clones will 
be destroyed after the completion of the experiment 
rather than retaining them in the high containment 
facility. Other clones that are not hazardous or not 
of major hazard will be retained in high containment." 
Dr. Gottesman accepted his amendment. Dr. Novick said he 
did not see the necessity for risk assessment experiments 
involving the introduction of antibiotic resistance traits 
which would compromise medical or veterinary therapy. He 
suggested that reference to Section I-D-5 be struck from the 
proposal. Dr. Campbell disagreed. Similarly, Dr. Young 
said that the understanding of antibiotic resistance is so 
important that it should be permitted in a very high contain- 
ment facility. Dr. Gottesman suggested that the RAC vote on 
Dr. Novick' s amendment to delete Section I-D-5. The RAC 
denied this motion by a vote of three in favor, thirteen 
opposed, with three abstentions. Drs. Novick and Goldstein 
requested that they be recorded as voting in favor of the 
amendment. 
Dr. Ahmed said that he would like to amend the motion by 
adding language requiring that all RAC members be notified 
prior to beginning the experiments. Dr. Barkley suggested 
that the amend ement be worded as follows: 
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