ROCHE INSTITUTE OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 
NUTLEY, NEW JERSEY 07110 
August 18, 1978 
Dr. Donald S. Fredrickson, Director 
National Institutes of Health 
Building 1 , Room 1 24 
Bethesda, Maryland 20014 
Dear Dr. Fredrickson: 
The "Proposed Revised Guidelines for Recombinant DNA Research" represent 
a major improvement over the present guidelines. I strongly support the re- 
vised guidelines. 
I would like to point out an apparent inconsistency in the revised guide- 
lines which permit tumor viruses to be used with more flexibility and under 
less stringent conditions than other eukaryotic tissues. For example, shotgun 
experiments with primate DNA or cDNA require P2-EK2 conditions whereas clones 
containing genomic segments of transforming viruses can be manipulated under 
P2-EK2 or P3-EK1 conditions. It seems that primate DNA or cDNA should be able 
to be handled under conditions permitted for primate transforming viruses. 
Therefore, I reconmend that the final version of the new guidelines permit shot- 
gun experiments with eukaryotic DNA [Section III-A-l-a] under P2-EK2 or P3-EK1 
conditions. This would include shotgun experiments with DNA or cDNA from primates, 
other mammals and birds as detailed in Sections III-A-a-(l), III -A-l -a- ( 2 ) , and 
I I I-A-l -a- ( 3 ) , respectively. 
I hope that this change shall be incorporated in the new guidelines. 
Sincerely yours. 
SP:mi 
cc: Dr. H. Weissbach 
'X Dr. William J. Gartland, NIH 
Dr. Daphne Kamel y, NIH 
Sidney Pestka 
Adjunct Professor of Pathology 
College of Physicians & Surgeons 
Columbia University 
[A-27] 
