LMVERSITY OF CAUFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO 
BDUCELXY • DAVIS • IBVINC • LOS ANGELES • RTVEMIDE • SAN DIEGO • SAN FKANCISCO 
SANTA BARBAHA • SANTA CBVZ 
SCHOOL OF MFDICINE 
Dcpartinenl of Microhiolof y 
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA M143 
and Immunology 
13 April 1981 
Dr. William Gartland 
Office of Recombinant DNA 
National Institutes of 
General Medical Sciences 
Building 31. 4A52 
Bethesda, Maryland 20205 
Dear Dr. Gartland: 
I am writing to offer enthusiastic support for the proposal to be put 
before the Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee by David Baltimore and Allan 
Campbell. Certainly In my own field of virology there has never been any 
reason to believe that recombinant DNA experiments were anymore dangerous 
than the viruses themselves; thus voluntary compliance with reasonable safety 
recommendations has always seemed preferable to the paper-laden system with 
which we are now burdened. 
Yours 
Harold E. Varmus, M.D 
Professor 
HEV; jm 
[ 577 ] 
