RUTGERS 
THE STATE UNIVERSITY 
OF NEW JERSEY 
WAKSMAN INSTITUTE OF MICROBIOLOGY* BUSCH CAMPUS* NEW BRUNSWICK * NEW JERSEY 06903 
MAILING ADDRESS; P.O. BOX 759* PISCATAWAY* NEW JERSEY 08854 
June l6, 1982 
Dr. Willieun Gartland Jr. 
Director 
Office of Recombinant I®A Activities 
Building Room UA52 
N.I.H. 
Bethesda Md. 20205 
Dear Dr. Gartland; 
I have given some consideration to the recent proposal of Drs. Novick and 
Goldstein to discourage the use of recombinant BRA technology In the 
development of biological weapons by amending the NIH guidelines 
to prohibit it. 
I agree that the development of biological weapons through clo ning must 
be the most hazardous use of such techniques^ and as long as the guidelines 
are to be preserved, this should be a prohibited activity. I have some 
concern that the guidelines may not be the proper place for this type of 
statement, and that the amendment they propose may adversely affect later 
discussions on the abolition of the guidelines. On balance, I support 
their view and their amendment. 
Michael Kent Showe 
Visiting Professor 
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