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1 possible to clone the herpes chromosome segment of 
2 interest using existing recombinant DNA techniques. 
3 Such a practice would be far simpler, faster, and 
4 cheaper than growing the intact virus. From a bio- 
5 safety viewpoint, I would judge the recombinant DNA 
6 cloning of the herpes fragment to be, in itself, 
7 innocuous, and certainly far safer than growing the 
8 virus. This kind of cloning experiment is not currently 
9 possible at P 3 levels of containment under the provisions 
10 of the existing guidelines. It could be readily done 
11 under the revised guidelines. 
12 In closing, let me say a few words about the 
13 biological risk. Our Department of Biology at Yale 
14 covers a broad spectrum of the biosciences, ranging from 
15 molecular biology to the environmental sciences. None 
16 of my faculty members have expressed concern over these 
17 pending revisions of the recombinant DNA guidelines. 
18 Throughout the whole university, including the school of 
19 medicine, there is in fact broad and strong support for 
20 the implementation of the revised guidelines. 
21 I believe we should not lose sight of the fact 
22 that the risk associated with recombinant DNA organisms 
23 has not been established, much less measured or quantitated. 
24 On the other hand, the risk of disease, aging, birth 
25 defects, is well established and altogether too real. 
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