UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. SAN DIEGO 
BERKELEY • DAVIS • IRVINE • LOS ANCELES • RIVERSIDE • SAN D1ECO • SAN FRANCISCO 
DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY. B-022 
LA JOLLA, CALIFORNIA 92093 
December 21, 1979 
Dr. Donald Fredrickson 
Director 
National Institutes of Health 
Bethesda, MD 20205 
Dear Dr. Fredrickson: 
I wish to add my support of the proposed downgrading of 
recombinant DNA experiments using El. coli K-12 as the host. 
The proposal in section 111-0 on p. 69218 of the Federal Register 
(Vol. 44, 1979) to require Pi containment under the conditions 
described and reporting onlv to the IBC is soundlv based on 
scientific data and the consensus of the scientific experts. 
As a past member of the RAC I can appreciate the difficulty 
for vou in making a reasoned decision in the face of highly vocal 
members of our society that want progress without even the remotest 
possibility of any risk. While I have not agreed with all of your 
decisions with regard to the guidelines, your overall record to 
date is excellent in steering these guidelines through the morass 
of exaggerated and false claims by members of the scientific 
community, political opportunism on the part of both public 
interest groups and politicians and hysterical reaction from some 
sectors of the public at large. 
With regard to the present E^. coli K-12 issue the data 
summarized and discussed at the Falmouth meeting soundly support 
this downgrading of containment. It should have been done sooner. 
To delay this action any longer can only do further damage to progress 
in the application of the fundamental recombinant DNA techniques to 
the solution of medical and agricultural problems. There simply 
is no question that a needless requirement of P2 or P3 containment 
for experimental work is a severe hindrance both in time and money. 
To require higher containment levels than is necessary for the 
basis of the data at hand and the consensus of experts in the field 
also undermines the credibility of the whole process of requiring 
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