activities is not proof of safety. We are in much the same 
position today as we were at the beginning of this technology: 
blindly mixing the genetic material of organisms that would not 
accomplish such exchanges naturally. We have no substantial 
facts or data to justify these lenient Guidelines and there 
remain good grounds for suspecting hazards from this new techno- 
logy. Unproven confident statements of safety should not be 
accepted as a basis for easing the Guidelines. 
The Proposed Guidelines do not adequately take into 
account ecological considerations. A great deal of concern 
has been expressed over the possibility of creating an epidemic 
while the more likely possibility of inadvertently disrupting 
the ecological balance has been overlooked. A recombinant 
organism need not only produce a pathogen to cause harm. If am 
orgamism gains a slight competitive advantage by producing more 
of am enzyme than does the wild type, it could conceivably 
alter the balamce of am ecological system with grave 
consequences. Before we relax the Guidelines we must assess 
the potential harm of am recombinamt organism not just to man 
but to plamts, amimals amd the environment. We cam have no 
assuramces of safety until we understand the mechanisms of 
pathogenicity and how am orgamism will interact in a complex 
ecological situation. At this time we can not amswer such 
questions amd consequently we should not attenuate the 
Guidelines . 
- 2 - 
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