UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA 
TAMPA • ST. PETERSBURG • FORT MYERS • SARASOTA 
MEDICAL CENTER 
COLLEGE OF MEDICINE 
DEPARTMENT OF MEDICAL MICROBIOLOGY 
BOX 10 
12901 NORTH 30TH STREET 
TAMPA. FLORIDA 33612 
Dr. Donald S. Fredrickson 
Director, 
National Institutes of Health 
Bethesda, MD 20205 
Dear Dr. Fredrickson: 
This letter is to indicate my support of the relaxation of 
guidelines for proposed Recombinant DNA Research. As the Chairman of 
a Medical Microbiology Department I fully recognize the important need 
of appropriate research concerning recombinant DNA. Although such 
studies are not currently in progress in our Department, I anticipate 
that investigators may wish to do so in the future. I believe the 
guidelines as currently recommended would be suitable. No risk has 
yet been demonstrated, thus studies on recombinant DNA should be 
encouraged, if appropriate, for certain studies. Nevertheless I agree 
that there should be registration of such experiments with a local 
institutional biosafety committee, allowing pin-pointing of any problems 
should they arise. There is no question that useful information is 
already being obtained concerning gene structure and function, as well 
as synthesis of biomedically important products based on recombinant DNA 
studies. I can foresee the use of further recombinant DNA experiments 
for immunological research. Indeed, I believe there is probably less 
danger in recombinant DNA studies with immunologically important genes 
for synthesizing antibody molecules than the current work being done 
world-wide using hybridomas with known mouse plasmacytomas as one of 
the fusion cell types. Therefore, I strongly endorse the newer guide- 
lines being proposed and feel that recombinant DNA studies should pro- 
ceed on many fronts. 
Sincerely yours, 
813 974 2178 
December 27, 1979 
Herman Friedman, Ph.D. 
Professor and Chairman 
HF: lp 
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